Editor, Times-Union: This is in response to the letter to the editor titled "Abortion Ad" dated Oct. 4. The pictures and signs displayed in front of Planned Parenthood are not displayed out of hatred or meant to scare anyone. The only ones to fear these pictures are in the womb, and they are not able to see the threat that exists.
These signs and photographs are meant to allow people to see the results of their actions, or what could be the results of their actions. Sin and crime are awful. We as a society have always tried to show the results of this type of behavior in an effort to deter it. "Scared Straight" is one example. Teens are shown the inside of prisons so they will stop their poor behavior before they end up there. Right now there are anti-drug commercials running describing what often happens with the money spent when one purchases drugs. Auto accidents appear endlessly on our front page. Who among us has not told our young drivers that these accidents are often the results of speeding or drinking while driving? We do this out of love and hope that our young people will avoid behavior that will lead to these results.
If there is any hatred out there, it won't be found in those protestors, many of whom I know contribute to crisis pregnancy centers. The hatred I've seen has only been from those who have been wounded by having a part in an abortion. If those wounds have not been healed by the loving grace of Jesus Christ, that comes from a confession of one's sin and an acceptance of his gift, then those pictures can break open the wound. This hatred in reality is a result of the grief and guilt that lingers inside. As for the effectiveness of this approach, some of my most life changing attitudes and behaviors have come as a result of someone showing me the consequences of my sinful behavior. I didn't think much of them then, but I thank God for them now.
John Burtoft Warsaw via e-mail
National Drug Program
Editor, Times-Union: First of all I would like to thank all the people who gave an overwhelmingly positive response to my letter about Medicaid drug restrictions and the so-called "rational drug program." I am delighted to announce that through the intervention of the Indiana State Medical Association, this problem has been in large part corrected. The new formulary which will be effective on Sept. 25 does have stronger drugs available for prevention of stomach bleeding. It remains to be seen what will be allowed for arthritis that is safer for the patient, but at least with a formulary we do not have to sit around and guess what the state will approve.
This by no means corrects all the problems with medication and government coverage, but I do want to make one comment, and that is that at least one person has misconstrued my point. My point is that we physicians were being asked to put patients in jeopardy of major and possibly fatal bleeding complications. This really had nothing to do with economics whatsoever. For people to imply otherwise simply means that they are substituting their own political and economic agenda for my concern for the patient. While there are those who try to translate everything into materialistic terms, I refuse to do so. The fact that the State of Indiana has been proven to have misused their funds previously, is a genuine problem and needs to be addressed, but that is not the problem that I was addressing.
Lastly, I want to make it perfectly clear that the Illinois State Medical Society has always opposed prior authorization for drugs for patients on Medicaid. At the very least, this causes hardship for the patients and as can be seen in the examples that I was talking about, it has the potential for great harm. This has at least partially been corrected. If your legislator voted for these corrections, you may thank them, but if not, perhaps they need to hear from you.
P.S. My opinions are my own, not those of Kosciusko Community Hospital.
