RU-486 Pill and Ethics of Abortion

* “Pill Doesn’t Alter Abortion Ethics, RU-486 Creator Says” (Oct. 29) describes the consequence of this chemical abortion method as the “expulsion of the fertilized egg.” This is a gross inaccuracy. Human life consists of a “fertilized egg” for the briefest possible time. At five weeks, a human life is described as an embryo and has a beating heart. I saw (by ultrasound) just such a human life at exactly five weeks last January and called it “my baby.” His/her heart had been beating, in fact, for two weeks.

ELIZABETH YUENGERT MSN

Moorpark

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* Many people claim they “personally oppose abortion,” but they go on to say they don’t want to “impose their views” on others. But the “view” here is that innocent human life should not be destroyed. Isn’t that a view that everyone in a civilized society is supposed to have? Isn’t that view the basis of all the other laws and protections our society offers? Isn’t that the view enshrined in the Declaration of Independence when it says that all “are created equal” and “endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights”? The declaration goes on to say that governments are instituted to “secure” those rights. That’s why I don’t hesitate to make abortion the decisive issue when I vote.

J.T. FINN

Redondo Beach

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* This election will present Americans with the ultimate showdown on the issue of abortion and the future of women’s rights. The Democrats support Roe vs. Wade and a woman’s right to choose. The Republicans oppose abortion and have vowed that they will attempt to pass a constitutional ban on all abortions. George W. Bush is opposed to abortion and Dick Cheney opposes all abortions, even in cases of rape or incest.

The GOP feels that women should have the right to choose where their child goes to school or how their Social Security benefits are invested; they just don’t feel women are mentally or emotionally developed enough to make such weighty decisions about their own bodies and health.

GARY AVRECH

West Hills