Eisner chooses not to see the downsides to abortion

Eisner chooses not to see the downsides to abortion
EDITOR:
Jane Eisner's May 11 essay, "A chance to address abortion standoff," misses the mark.
She contends that a wayward pregnant 13-year-old without home or parents should be able to get an abortion in spite of opposition from Gov. Jeb Bush. She also objects, by implication, with Gov. Bush's "fight to intervene in the case of poor Terri Shiavo."
Eisner worries that a 13-year-old's future will be "dictated by a bunch of men who fashion themselves as protectors of life but never, ever have to bear the consequences." Her happy ending is that Gov. Bush backed down.
Let's back up. In 1973, seven powerful men decided for all Americans that abortion would be legal. More lately a few powerful men, all judges, determined that Terri would be starved to death in Florida.
Meanwhile, just this year, a young woman in Oregon, for the first time, won a lawsuit against Planned Parenthood because they did not inform her about the increased risk of breast cancer before aborting her when she was 16. One of the most long-standing abortion statistics is that one out of 10 young women who abort their first child will never have another one.
Another given: Because of damage to the reproductive system from so many million abortions (over 40 million since 1973), more babies are being born handicapped than would have been if abortion had remained illegal. Today the leading cause of death among pregnant women is murder. Go to "Google" and check out the research by Elliot Institute on abuse and violence against pregnant women and girls. Legalizing abortion has certainly not contributed to respect for women in America.
Back to Eisner. She seems to see a direct connection between political (read "pro-life") interference in the cases of a brain-damaged woman unable to speak for herself and a wayward and pregnant 13-year-old who has no parents and no home. Death is the solution for both social inconveniences. The woman has parents and family begging to assume her care; the teenager has no one to look after her. It doesn't seem to make any difference to Eisner.
Abortion imposes a difficult future on a girl. If she ever grows to maturity and learns the truth about the life of her child, she will have to live with the fact that her baby (perhaps her only baby) was killed during a most vulnerable period in her life.
America is the wealthiest nation on the earth. We can afford to support life for the Terris and the pregnant teens. We just have to decide that it is the right thing to do. In this regard, Jeb Bush is a fine example of leadership. The "pragmatism and tolerance" recommended by Eisner, which would allow "some protection" for killing babies in the womb, rings hollow. It's always the woman who gets hurt in the long run.
JEAN M. HERMAN
Astoria, Oregon
Conservation by taxation
EDITOR:
Recently, a reader from McDonald wrote a letter to the editor suggesting that a national 55 mph speed limit, strictly enforced, would save one million barrels of oil per day. I am not opposed to that idea, but I think I have a better idea.
After 9-11 Congress should have passed a & quot;Patriot Tax & quot; on gasoline, to discourage importing of petroleum. A tax of at least $2 or $3 per gallon might be effective in reducing use of gasoline, and the tax money could have been used to promote or subsidize more efficient means of transportation, or even to reduce the national debt.
I may be mistaken but if gasoline cost around $5 per gallon now, many motorists would drive at 55 mph without a law requiring them to do so.
STEVEN K. BROWN
Columbiana