Fewer abortions would happen if people exercised self-control

Editor,

This letter is in response to James Letterhos' column published Monday. I have been reading the back-and-forth letters and columns on abortion printed in the Daily Lobo for many years, and I have finally decided to take part in the discussion. I am a Christian but will try to make my arguments from a mostly secular point of view.

Unplanned pregnancies: Why as humans can we not control our sexual urges? I have been paralyzed from the chest down since age 16. As far as I know, the amount of sexual hormones flowing through my body has not decreased because of my paralysis. Yet I have not gone insane because of lack of sex. The abortion-rights argument seems to assume that the act of conception was and is somehow unavoidable. We are not rabbits or stray dogs and cats who procreate on the urge of instinct. We are humans who have the ability to know ahead of time what the results of our actions are. As a society, why do we not focus more on teaching our children self-control? Teaching self-control classes in elementary school would go a long way in preventing a lot of our society's problems like overeating, anger issues, gambling, stealing, lying, alcoholism and many other negative results of bad choices.

As far as rape, incest and saving the life of the mother, it is my understanding that abortions as a result of rape, incest or as a medical necessity to save the mother's life make up less than 10 percent of the abortions done in America. If abortions in America were limited to only those occasions, there would be much less of an uproar from Christians and other religious groups. If the procedure were not primarily used as a post-conception form of birth control, and if the "oops, how did that happen?" reason for 90 percent of the abortions were avoided, we conservatives (especially the moderate conservatives) would not be as vocal and provocative about it.

Abortion-rights arguments often regard babies born with disabilities. As a disabled American, this argument is the one that disturbs me most. Although I was not born with my disability, I know and have met a lot of people who were. They have never given me the impression that they wished their mother hadn't had them. Most babies born with Down syndrome and other mental disabilities can become productive members of society. Those with more severe disabilities can grow up and live out their lives in loving homes if they were born to parents who knew and were prepared for all the possible repercussions of their actions.

David Carpenter

UNM alumnus