Abortion fairness

The BDN reported that Senate President Beth Edmonds has introduced legislation to provide state funded abortions to poor Maine women (“Maine abortion funding proposed,” March 14). She is quoted as saying, “It is not fair to deny poor women their protected constitutional right to reproductive choice.”

I would like to share with your readers what I find that is “not fair” about the choice of abortion for women.

It is “not fair” to deny a woman seeking an abortion, poor or not, information about the risks of abortion-related complications, including: an increased risk of subsequent births being premature, and a risk of injury to reproductive organs such as uterine perforation and cervical damage. Medical studies are showing an increased incidence of breast cancer in women who have experienced abortion and 3 to 5 percent of all women who have had abortions are left sterile. What about the psychological consequences of abortion now identified as post-abortion syndrome? All these risks can be easily researched over the Internet now from a myriad of reputable sources, but they are seldom explained to the woman considering abortion. That is “not fair.”

Many men would agree that it is “not fair” to deny them a choice about whether their baby lives or dies.

It is “not fair” to coerce all taxpayers to pay for abortions regardless of their convictions.

It is “not fair” to deny life to an unborn baby because his or her mother is poor.

Finally, I believe that it is “not fair” that some believe that the best choice to helping a woman in crisis is to offer to pay to kill her baby.

Linda Hardy

Hancock