Editor, Times-Union: This letter is in response to Linda Torpy's wonderfully insightful letter. I would like to dissect the entire second half of your letter, which was in response to another letter, about abortion. I'll even include credible sources, since you obviously don't understand what factual information is. First off, you open up this topic by saying "ignorance ran rampant with that one." I do enjoy irony, but that's a bit rich for me. Anyway, let's go back to ninth-grade biology. When a sperm meets an ovum, it makes a zygote, which develops into a mass of cells called a blastocyst, which then turns into an embryo, then a fetus, then a baby. (Source #1) You do not get to decide for everyone that a fertilized ovum (zygote) is when life starts. Stopping a mass of cells from developing isn't "murder" to everyone. Your opinion on this matter is just that, and let's "call it what it is, folks" – sanctimonious. Now we can move on to the orphanage comment. You said "orphanages are almost non existant (sic).” The first hole in that statement is because they are not almost non-existent. They are still rampant, and a quick trip to orphanage.org will show you that with links to hundreds and hundreds of orphanages in existence at this very moment. The second hole in your statement: Orphanages may not be as widespread as they used to be only because of foster care's new popularity. While on the subject, let's not forget that these children often fall victim to sexual and emotional abuse, neglect, and a myriad of emotional and mental disorders (PTSD, depression, etc). All of these require medical attention, which the right (which you're so proud to be on) refuses to make available as a right to every single American citizen. None of you are pro-life. You're pro-birth. I encourage you to think about that sentiment. Maybe take a good, long look in the mirror. We will revisit this later. You ended this topic with "it is up to the woman to just say no." I can't even begin to start on how screwed up that mentality is, but I will say a few things (hopefully they don't shock you): women like sex, they even want to have it! *gasp* It is not solely a woman's responsibility to prevent pregnancy and it is definitely not solely a woman's fault for not remaining abstinent if she ends up with an unwanted/unexpected pregnancy. Please stop with your victim-blaming, persecuting and antiquated views on women and sex. They are harmful and promote a rape culture. And now, on to the videos. Those fake, edited, highly embellished videos that were proven to be false by an FBI investigation. And yes, the people responsible "weren't arrested for the videos" they were arrested for lying about who they were ... when they committed fraud and created a fake company and orchestrated an attack to frame Planned Parenthood for crimes it didn't commit. So, yeah, they just "lied about who they were" but it was directly involved with the deception and criminal activities they organized, so do not even try to down play what those criminals did. (Source #2) So, to wrap up this essay I seem to have word vomited, you do not get to choose for all women concerning their bodies. I'm sure you would appreciate keeping your own body autonomy when making medical decisions, just like every woman and man surely wants to. Pro-choice does not equal pro-abortion. And "pro-life" seems to forget about the lives affecting by being forced to carry a pregnancy to term. If the right were "pro-life,” you'd think there'd be more support for things like a liveable minimum wage and universal health care. But, the lives of the poor and minorities don't matter ... just a balls of cells that can't function outside of a womb. Makes sense. Kaci Scheve Warsaw, via email
