Editor,
I am writing in response to Benjamin Sanchez's anti-abortion letter.
It appalls me that he so ardently attacks Katrina victims' right to choose and states that the "abortion mentality" is based upon a negative view of human life. Obviously, we should work to reduce the need for abortion, but the fact is, the need for abortion will never go away until we, as a country, can achieve two goals: better access to the most effective contraceptive options and better access to other kinds of reproductive health care and information.
The Little Rock Family Planning Services abortion clinic in Arkansas is offering free abortions to Katrina survivors not to "poison this country with despair," as Sanchez writes, but to aid families, and especially women, in getting back on their feet from such a devastating disaster.
An enormous number of victims of the hurricane are homeless, jobless and in dire need of basic human necessities. If women or their families can hardly support themselves in such a devastating situation, how can we expect them to support a newborn human being?
What is done to a woman's body and life should always be the woman's choice. It is not simply a matter of a child being a drain on the family or society, as Sanchez states. Instead, it is a much broader issue in that these people have been uprooted from everything they know. They have been psychologically affected by the recent events, and certainly deserve the choice of whether or not to bring a child into the chaos of their lives right now.
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I commend the Little Rock Family Planning Services abortion clinic for sacrificing their funding needs for the victims of Katrina, and being a true help to those in need.
Kristen Woodruff
UNM student
