Dear editor:
Why do we vote for politicians and policies who are clearly anti-woman? It makes no logical sense. I am tired and irritated of anti-choice policies that make it harder for women to get safe abortions. I am tired of “pro-life” groups, like Kansans For Life, blatantly lying and handing out damaging misinformation about abortion and birth control. And I am tired of politicians, especially those without vaginas, who try to (and sometimes succeed) in taking away my right to choose what happens and what grows in my body. Those people and policies are killing women and denying us our bodily autonomy and freedom.
I was disappointed in seeing just how many lies were in the Kansans For Life’s pamphlets at the Allen County Fair. Let me correct some of them.
Abortion is like any other medical surgery. There are always risks to a surgery, but done safely, will not cause internal bleeding or sterilization. Studies have disproved the claim that abortion causes breast cancer, and the American Cancer Society has stated publicly there is no correlation between abortion and breast cancer. And finally, women have depression after an abortion not because of the procedure, but instead because of the stigma and unsupportive anti-choice society we live in that says a women should feel guilty in ending a pregnancy.
Women have abortions for many reasons. It’s not an easy decision, nor is it as simple as anti-choice people believe. Sometimes the mother-to-be could die from giving birth. Sometimes the fetus could suffocate upon birth. Both scenarios are good reasons to abort. Some women are in no financial situation to have children, let alone pay the medical bills to carry the fetus to term and put it up for adoption.
Abortions will always happen, just as they have had for centuries. Making them illegal will not stop them. It only kills and harms women who have been turned to back-alley butchers to save their lives and livelihoods. Making abortions safe helps and saves women
I wish “pro-lifers” would understand this and quit hiding behind false propaganda, cherry-picked religious verses and discredited science. You aren’t saving “babies.” You’re killing and damaging the lives of innocent women.
Let’s take back our state and protect women. Vote for politicians who actually care about protecting women and women’s lives.
Cora O’Brien
Elsmore, Kan.
Letter to the editor — August 4, 2014
