Letters to the editor....... the abortion debate

RE: “Exploring opinion on abortion” by Leigh Cooney, November 13, 2006.
I am a third year fanshawe student. I have been reading the Interrobang religiously for three years now.

I have never EVER seen a response to someone's letter so politically incorrect. I myself am PRO-CHOICE. The president of the FSFL wrote a letter in about sexual awareness week and the response letter from Leigh was a personal attack.

Nowhere in the original letter did it state that this gentleman was a Christian, if he is, all the power to him, maybe you know him personally, I don't know. What gives the person the right to attack a religion?

You may think it's okay to attack Christians, but you wouldn't attack another religion for fear it would start too much controversy at Fanshawe. You are right, it would. Attacking ones, religion, race, culture amongst many other things is disgraceful. I believe you owe the student body of Fanshawe college a written apology. The president of the FSFL never personally attacked anyone, but was merely stating his opinions, freedom of speech is valued in our society is it not?

Although I am not pro-life, I believe everyone has the right to their opinions whether or not we agree with them. Mentioning someone's name in a personal attack in a publication is defamation of character. The Interrobang should be careful what they publish. Once again, although I do not agree with pro-life I agree in equality and free speech.
Amanda

RE: “Exploring opinion on abortion” by Leigh Cooney, November 13, 2006.
To start with, you have the wrong attitude, when it comes to giving your opinion. Name-calling is a really sad way of getting your point across.

Nobody protested to the students for life club setting up, because there is something called freedom of speech, you know it's one of the pillars of our nation. It's why our nation is such a great place to live, because we can express our opinions. A good reason why people may not have protested to the booth that was set up in the SUB, is because they don't share your outlandish ideas.

Another thing, if you feel so strongly about the issue. Why didn't you protest? Is it because you are one of those people who is all high and mighty, and opinionated, in front of your computer screen, but once you're in public you go with the flow and are unwilling to share you're opinion, because it will make you “uncool”.

If you want to get people on your side it is best to not call them “poor, susceptible, gullible Fanshawe girls”. Putting people down is not usually a good strategy. Now I can't comment on your statement saying that half of the student's for life were middle-aged women and another 25 per cent were men, since I did not see this booth. Whenever I see a booth in the school on whatever topic it may be, there are always more adults than students there.

To comment about your opinion on the side effects. There are greater chances of breast cancer and other complications if you have had an abortion. I don't know where you are getting your information from. To say that certain studies are biased is wrong. This is a complete lie. I recommend checking out http://www.americanpregnancy.org/
unplannedpregnancy/possiblesideeffects.html. This web site is a government sanctioned web site. I will level with you that it makes you upset to see people screaming murder on your way to have your abortion, but this does not cause depression. Tell me, have you ever seen a baby that has been aborted. I recommend seeing it if at all possible, or just look at some pictures on the Internet. These pregnant women have to see this coming out of them. This baby that was once alive and know she has killed it. It could well have been you or me or that person you would lay down your own life for. That person that is walking, talking, sharing with you. Tell me how would you feel if that person wasn't there. If you are responsible enough to have sex than you should be able to handle the consequences, and not walk away from it, because it's just not the best thing for your life right now. Anyone who is for the right to choose only thinks about themselves and what is best for them. This is the exact reason why there is so much trouble in the world. People are completely self-absorbed.

You are probably thinking to your self, this guy has got to be a Christian. Guess what, I am. The issue that you are talking about goes much deeper than abortion. You have a preconceived opinion about Christians. By looking at what you wrote you believe in free speech, as long as people see things the way you do.
Ruben van der Zon

RE: “Exploring opinion on abortion” by Leigh Cooney, November 13, 2006.
In response to Leigh Cooney's letter regarding Fanshawe Students for Life: Leigh Cooney, and a hopelessly badly informed column, attacks me personally as well as a club of which I am a member. Fanshawe Students for Life is a student group dedicated to promoting human rights and human dignity. We have no religious or political affiliations, and we are open to all students who are interested becoming informed about the human rights issues of our day. Our concern is for the protection of all human beings, from conception until natural death. Leigh also asks “Where were all the feminists?” I would like to suggest to him that some of them may have found the following website or possibly realized that abortion is a sign society is not meeting women's needs: http://www.feministsforlife.org/

In his article, he conveys the appearance of wanting to help women, while clearly treating them as inferior. His reference to the “poor, susceptible, gullible Fanshawe girls” demonstrates how low an opinion he has of them: those poor girls can't think for themselves, and they aren't able to form their own opinions. FSFL, on the other hand, respects the intellects of the women at Fanshawe. Far from being the suckers that Leigh portrays them as, they are in fact inquisitive, sharp, and rational.

Leigh expresses a desire that pro-life groups be banned from campus: “They should be banned”. This demonstrates Leigh's utter intolerance for those who disagree with him. FSFL, on the other hand, firmly believes in the right to free speech for all. Indeed, most of the students at Fanshawe seem to be respectful of the free speech of all students, and willing to listen to the facts that FSFL is presenting.

Leigh is dismissive of a very large and growing number of studies, published in prestigious medical journals including our own Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) which draw a correlation between abortion and breast cancer. “All case studies that claim there is a link between abortion and cancer rely primarily on case control studies which are known to be heavily biased and highly unreliable.” Further, the meta-analyses that have been done also support a definite link between abortion and breast cancer. While Leigh wants to attribute the grief and psychological trauma experienced by post-abortive women to pro-lifers who make them feel guilty, this is far too simple. The truth is that women experience a bond with their child, and when that bond is violently ruptured as in an abortion, deep psychological wounds often result. Abortion hurts both women and children.

Leigh, in his article, recommends that Fanshawe women check out Planned Parenthood, a racist organization dedicated to making big profits by exploiting women. I wonder if he knew that Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion chain in North-Ameri ca and has killed more than three million innocent children at its facilities. Planned Parenthood puts minors on birth control without parents' knowledge or involvement, and Planned Parenthood does all of this with over $265 million dollars a year of taxpayers money. Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood is openly racist-“We do not want word to get out that we want to exterminate the Negro population.” Linda Gordon's A Social History of Birth Control in America. New York: Grossman Publishers, 1976. Sanger promoted the “science” of eugenics-the idea that the human race could realize its full potential only if “inferior” humans with limited intellectual capacity were eliminated. From that first seed of racism, Planned Parenthood has become a leading contributor to the number one cause of death among African-Americans. Every year, over 400 thousand black babies are killed by abortionists. That's almost 32 per cent of the total number of abortions, even though African-Ameri cans are only 11 per cent of the total population. In 2003 Planned Parenthood reported a total income of $766.6 million in the United States. They are in the business of abortions. If I was a vegetarian and I wanted to talk to someone who is bipartisan on the topic of animals I would not go to a butcher who made money by their death. We as always can be contacted at fsflinfo@hotmail.com.
Nathan Welch

Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.