Submitted to the Star Banner, January 24, 2001
by Jim O'Hara
Editor,
Men and women concerned about the status of women and their freedoms in the United States must be involved in opposing changes in our laws governing abortions which would force women again into back alley, clothes hanger, illegal, and deadly abortions. Restrictive abortion laws in Brazil and Mexico result in more than 4 million illegal abortions each year. The #1 cause of the deaths of women of child-bearing age in these nations is related to pregnancy. I don't want that in the United States.
Space limits permit my addressing only one such proposed change: outlaw the use of all contraceptives. That's right, outlaw the use of all contraceptives.
Some religious leaders who favor such a law state contraceptives prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus and growing. They say this is an abortion of a pregnancy and must be outlawed. Not so. Abortion is terminating a pregnancy, not preventing a pregnancy.
Religious leaders who favor outlawing the use of all contraceptives admit they do so as legal abortions violate their religious doctrine and threaten their authority. These leaders say if they can't enforce their authority on this issue, it would be easier for others to threaten their authority on other doctrines, and eventually destroy their denomination.
I do not believe legal abortions in the US or elsewhere threaten the survival of any religious denomination. I do believe legal abortions have given women the freedom finally to be able to control the use of their bodies, something males have enjoyed forever.
Proposed amendments to our Constitution have been introduced in the House and the
Senate which would make it a very serious crime to use contraceptives. It's critical citizens
concerned about the negative impact of such laws on women and men need to let your
members of Congress know of your opposition to such laws.
James M. O'Hara