Government shouldn't make decisions on child-bearing

Government shouldn't make decisions on child-bearing
EDITOR:
Why will we be Marching For Women's Lives in Washington, D.C., on April 25, 2004?
Some women and all men will never need or want an abortion. But that doesn't mean they don't suffer when anti-choice forces succeed. Attacks on reproductive rights and health threaten contraception and responsible decision-making.
No one expected George W. Bush to protect a woman's right to choose -- he's been explicitly anti-choice since 1994. His federal court appointments confirm it. In November he signed the first federal legislation banning abortion in the history of the United States. Without a health exception the ban is clearly unconstitutional.
Anti-choice extremists who testified against making EC (Emergency Contraception) available over the counter at the FDA advisory panel hearing presented ideologically based opinions as if they were medical fact. Such statements were the clearest proof yet that they are out to limit access to birth control. In his State of the Union address President Bush called for more funding for abstinence-only education programs that have no proven track record. Promoting ignorance by withholding information is just another strategy to limit access.
You'd think that those opposed to abortion would at least be committed to providing the kind of sexual health information and family planning services that reduce the need for abortion in the first place. Not in Ohio! In partnership with Ohio Right to Life, anti-choice hard-liners who control both Houses in the General Assembly gutted Ohio's 20 year Family Planning Program.
That crushing blow forces us to close our Calcutta health center today. Ohio legislators turned their back on 1,400 uninsured and working poor women who need access to affordable birth control. Our Columbiana County patients, supporters and community partners are shocked. Now there will be more abortions, not fewer! And more teen pregnancies, not less!
Last year Planned Parenthood of Mahoning Valley's services prevented 1,377 abortions and 3,140 unintended pregnancies. Only information and prevention are effective in reducing abortion. The ability to control your fertility is a fundamental human right.
Decisions about child bearing should be made by a woman, in consultation with her family, her doctor, and her conscience not the government in Washington or Columbus. Please join us, one million strong, on April 25.
KAREN HACKENBERRY
Youngstown
X The writer is CEO/president of Planned Parenthood of the Mahoning Valley Inc.
Dom Rosselli's classmates from Rayen remember him
EDITOR:
That was a wonderful article in the paper last Friday about Dom Rosselli.
But there was no mention of him as a high school student. While he was at Rayen School, he was a star football and basketball player and captain of the varsity basketball team. (Need I mention that in basketball he could throw the ball from the floor into the hoop and didn't have to hang on the hoop to do it.)
Dom was very active in Rayen and was also the president of the June 1935 class. His classmates are very proud of him. And we are all for the statue.
MARY EDWARDS
Youngstown
X The writer is a member of the June 1935 Rayen School class.