“An affront to the Creator” (April, page 5) quotes Don Morris, national director of the U.S. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches regarding abortion [summarizing an article in Christian Leader, the USMB magazine]. My concern with trying to “eradicate this affront to the Creator” is the same problem I have with all the issues being pushed by the so-called “Christian right” (book bans, eliminating anything from the classroom that makes White people feel uncomfortable, etc.). Morris did not come right out and say “use your vote to help facilitate an abortion ban,” but the intent was there, as I read it. The United States is a democracy, not a theocracy. There is a reason for separation of church and state. Your religion does not prohibit me from anything; it prohibits you. As a Christian I can choose to not have an abortion, but I do not have the right to push for laws to reflect my religion. If we want the freedom to practice our religion, we must allow others the same freedom.  

Sylvia Bartel, North Newton, Kan.

I have experienced two tubal pregnancies, and both needed to be surgically aborted. It is impossible for embryos to grow into viable fetuses within fallopian tubes. If allowed to go untreated, both the embryo and the expectant mother would die. My husband and I desperately wanted those two pregnancies to develop into viable babies. Losing those two pregnancies was one of the most difficult experiences of our lives. I cannot imagine how devastating it would have been if pregnancy care was not allowed or available. Although I agree abortions should not be used as a birth-control method, I cringe when hearing about strict, narrow abortion laws and wonder if the folks initiating those laws realize the potential danger to expectant mothers and embryos. Nonviable pregnancies are difficult enough. Let’s not stigmatize or make them even more difficult by denying necessary care.

Pearl Lantz, Harrisonburg, Va.