In December, two receptionists at abortion clinics in Massachusetts were killed at their desks. And as in the aftermaths of the two Florida doctors who were murdered, some people who believe they have an inside track with God, called the acts justifiable.

When John F. Kennedy ran for president in 1960, a critical issue arose whether he, as a Roman Catholic, would allow the teachings of his church to govern his decisions in office. It was clear at that time that American voters wanted secular judgment to rule the executive office of their secular government. It took his famous speech before a convention of Southern Baptist ministers to convince the nation that Kennedy would not mix government with religion.

Today the nation is locked in a conflict where a particularly vocal religious group is self-righteously intent on inflicting its belief on everyone else, by force if necessary. When did the rules change?

At clinics throughout the country, doctors, nurses, and women who seek to exercise their legal right to have an abortion, must walk the gauntlet through crowds of demonstrators who scream at them and malign them in a attempt to prevent that exercise of choice. The actions of the demonstrators is nothing more than terrorism.

Since the Roe vs. Wade decision in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court several times had reaffirmed the right of women to choose their own reproductive paths. Last year, Congress passed and the President signed the Freedom of Access to Clinic Act, yet people who no doubt consider themselves “good Americans” continue to interfere with women and doctors who are performing a legal act, and they justify their behavior on religious grounds.

The United States is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-cultural country ruled by a body of statutory laws and court opinions that seek to preserve the rights and freedoms of all its people. Many of those ethnic groups, religions and cultures believe it is a woman’s personal decision to either carry a child to term or end her pregnancy. Why should the religious beliefs of one group be allowed to interfere with that decision?

The hypocrisy of some in the so-called “Right to Life” movement would be ludicrous if it were not so tragic. Many of them self-righteously condemn school sex education and birth control, but insist that young women must have the children they can ill afford and are unequipped to raise.

If the zealots who oppose abortion want to improve the society, let them stand up for real family values.

Let them support better educational systems so young women can secure jobs that will enable them to support their children. Let them promote realistic sex education courses in every high school in this country so no pregnancy will ever be a surprise. Let them scream from the rooftops about men’s responsibility to support the children they father. And let them demonstrate against child and spousal abuse — what could be more in line with real “family values.”

In Maine, a group of pro-choice and anti-abortion activists have decided to meet and search for a common ground in the hope of halting the violence that increasingly surrounds the issue of women’s reproductive rights. A common ground must be found in Maine and in the rest of the nation. If it is not, this country will completely cease to be the melting pot it purports to be, and more closely resemble a nuclear meltdown.

Diana Graettinger is a NEWS reporter based in Calais.