To the editor: Jackie Calmes’ column about the Republican Party’s inconsistent application of “pro-life” principles was spot on.
Our wonderful 5-year-old granddaughter and her newborn brother were born through in vitro fertilization (IVF), a process that can result in the discarding of unused embryos. Along with millions of other children, our grandchildren would not be giving their parents the joy of their lives if it were not for IVF.
The Alabama Supreme Court's Feb. 16 ruling that embryos are children is an affront to those of us who are pro-life.
In Jewish law and custom, and in many other religious communities, life begins not at conception, but when the newly formed person takes his or her first breath. The Alabama Supreme Court chief justice's implication that the “wrath of a holy God” will fall on those who cannot use all frozen embryos violates the separation of church and state and denies intended parents the opportunity to give life to his children.
In fact, the way far-right activists view reproduction, as well as the Republican Party's policy positions on child care and youth poverty, reinforce what religious fundamentalists who deny women the right to reproduction seem to believe. reproductive freedom: life begins at conception and ends at birth.
Michael Schneider, Truckee, California.
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To the editor: To continue to protect our children, in accordance with the recent Alabama court decision, we must also protect the preemption process.
Men must be responsible for the survival of their sperm prior to fertilization. Men who release sperm without having a child deserve the same punishment as those who decide to kill the fetus.
Women, by releasing an unfertilized egg, also destroy a potential child. This criminal act is easily detected through menstruation and therefore it should not be a problem to find women who should be punished for destroying the potential life of a fetus.
Only by protecting all sperm and all eggs can we be seen as truly protecting all potential life. There is nothing more important than protecting children, and that includes protecting the innocent, pre-fertilized egg and sperm needed to give life to a child.
While this is written in the style of Jonathan Swift satire, unfortunately, it's not too far from real life thanks to the Alabama Supreme Court.
Kathryn Pisaro, Granada Hills
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To the editor: Calmes' column criticizes Republican-governed states that have refused to accept federal money to help alleviate summer hunger for children who have to go without school lunches. It also reminds us that many Republican-led states have limited Medicaid programs.
Add to that Republicans' relentless attacks on Social Security and their apparent lack of concern about the threat to Ukraine's continued existence, and many of us feel it's time to adopt a new slogan for the Republican Party:
“Life, worshiped in the womb, then ignored until the grave.”
David Alberto, Santa Clarita
