Defining a Fetus as an ‘Unborn Child’

I am deeply disturbed by the Bush administration’s ongoing efforts to undermine women and their reproductive rights (“Bush Seeks to Label Fetus an Unborn Child,” July 7). Its latest assault on women takes the form of a proposal that would define a fetus as an “unborn child” so that state insurance programs could pay for prenatal care for some low-income women.

But where, in fact, are women in this equation? At best, the Bush administration has relegated them to the status of fetus carriers and second-class citizens. If the administration truly wanted to make sure that women have access to prenatal care, a simple waiver approval would do it. The waiver would allow states to increase spending on prenatal care for women. Instead, the administration is placing concern for the fetus above concern for the mother. This should outrage everyone who values a woman’s right to be in charge of her own reproductive life, without government interference.

Claudia M. Alleyne

Los Angeles