Jo Ann Nieman’s 12/17/05 letter implies that individuals who oppose abortion rights are also against women’s rights. She couldn’t be further from the truth. She states that, “A ruling body, composed mainly of men, decides the fate of the entire female population of the country.” “The arguments always revolve around the welfare of the embryo or fetus involved. This is the prime subject of the discussion, never the woman.”

      Her letter brought to my mind an article I had read from USA TODAY 9/27/05. Being a steadfast and passionate women’s advocate, I was drawn to this article entitled “Global war on women” that was about the U.S.-led campaign on terror being also a battle for women’s freedom: “The greatest social revolution in history is underway all around us: The emancipation of women….”

      I felt encouraged and uplifted by the article until it referred to the struggle to overturn Roe v Wade “as an attempt to turn back the clock on women’s freedom.” It said, “Opposing such a reversal isn’t a matter of thinking abortion admirable, but of accepting the magnificent revolutionary principle that no man has a right to tell any woman what she can or can not do with her body.”

      Jo Ann suggests that the right to abortion serves as a vehicle for women’s emancipation if we focus on the pregnant woman and give less focus to or completely disregard the other life involved. Yet, how we respond to this weakest among us tests our humanity and challenges the depth of our commitment to equality. In spite of massive efforts to hide what abortion is, the woman knows or will figure it out at some point. Whatever life burdens she already carries, having an abortion further saddles her with having killed an innocent, helpless, and fully human being. A fleeting and feeble “freedom” indeed!

      From conception, we have complete human genetic composition, are alive, and fit the dictionary definition of human life, human being, and person. "Unalienable rights" promoted in our Declaration of Independence, Constitutional Amendments, and laws are based on the "self-evident" special-ness of the human species and the equality of human persons. The legalization of abortion irrationally removed these rights from unborn humans and allows a mother to impose her morals on her child to the point of death.

      Since we need laws and laws inevitably impose morality, it seems prudent to promote laws that are based on consistently rational thought and uncompromised reverence for the core dignity and worth of each human person. Liberation for women (and men) is not meaningful unless these basic conditions are met, and that’s why abortion is counteractive to it. Join us in the struggle for equality—come to the Prolife Rally 1/21/06 starting 2pm at Depot Park.

Annie Bukacek MD