Backing Sanchez’s Abortion Stand

As a resident of the 46th Congressional District, I agree with my good friend Msgr. Jaime Soto’s plea (“Vote Fraud Debate,” Letters, Nov. 17) to focus on the issues facing the neighborhoods here. Too long the rhetoric and heat has been about extraneous party jockeying for a better position in the next election.

I do disagree with Msgr. Soto and his analysis of Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s position on a woman’s right to an abortion. I believe this congressional district mirrors the nation in wanting women to have the final say about if and when to bring a child into the world. She is not following a prescribed party line (which incidentally is more characteristic of her opponents’ party) but reflecting a deeply held conviction that after the dust settles in debating when life begins, it is finally up to a woman, her doctor and her God to make this most personal and intimate decision.

It is unfortunate that Rep. Sanchez is not given the benefit of the doubt that her conscience informs her position just as Msgr. Soto’s conscience informs his. As he counsels, a more enlightened plane of debate would ensure that all viewpoints are considered, especially when weighing difficult ethical issues such as late-term abortions.

I think Rep. Sanchez is to be commended for taking a courageous stand that government should not be involved in sticking its long arm into the doctor’s or pastor’s office and interfering with a woman’s freedom to make a hard choice affecting her pregnancy.

STEPHEN J. MATHER, Pastor

First Presbyterian Church

of Anaheim