Abortion stance is simple pandering

Re “Democrats shift their

approach on abortion,” July 26

No words can express my disappointment that certain House Democrats are embracing policies that “encourage women who do conceive to carry to term.” This is an astounding shift. Who stands to benefit? Is it the mothers of the unplanned children, who will receive job training and medical support during pregnancy, only to be left on their own for the following 18 years? Is it the public, which is already paying for a severely overburdened infrastructure? Or is it the children themselves? For the answer we can look to Mississippi, where anti-choice zealots have closed down all women’s clinics but one. Mississippi has the nation’s highest infant mortality rate, has met neither state nor federal foster-care standards for more than a decade and is under federal court order to reform its foster-care system.

For more than a generation, Democrats have stood for the principle that personal reproductive choices are not the business of government. Shame on any candidate who discards this principle purely to grub a few more votes.

Margaret Daugherty

Los Angeles

The Democrats’ so-called shift is nothing more than election pandering. An intelligent voter can see it and should vote against them in the coming election. It is unacceptable for Christians to support the death of innocent babies by the millions and say they will save 100,000 babies and let the rest perish. Even one life is that much more precious.

This is nothing more than immoral pandering and should be seen as such.

Virgilio Mendoza

Glendale

It’s about time that Democrats shift their approach on abortion. There’s nothing inherently Republican or Democrat about concern for the unborn -- in fact, one would think that Democrats, with their historic concern for the “little guy,” would be the most concerned for the littlest guys. Instead, their position for the last few decades has been there’s nothing about abortion we dare criticize -- and you’re a right-wing religious fanatic if you disagree. Little wonder they have lost the hearts of millions of voters who might otherwise be on their team. It’s about time for a compassionate, consistent liberalism that cares for all humanity.

David Horner

Fullerton