Abortion no solution to problems

Nancy A. Foss of the Abortion Access Project called people like me “radical right-to-lifers” (Letters, March 10) because we disagree with the abundance of abortions.

Does she consider herself a “radical right-to-deather?” Her maudlin adoration of abortion doctors is disturbing.

Ms. Foss must be in her own version of heaven now that we have a president whom I consider to be the greatest threat to the unborn yet.

In his first year in office, President Obama overturned one executive order that allowed health care workers to opt out of providing abortions and another limiting embryonic stem cell research. He secured millions of American tax dollars to provide abortions for women in other countries. He hired a hard-line abortion proponent as HHS secretary.

And then there are the votes before becoming president against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act in the Illinois and U.S. Senate. Congratulations, Ms. Foss, you are winning.

Coincidentally, I was in the laundromat last night with my son, playing cards to pass the time waiting for the laundry to finish. A little girl about 3 years old kept coming around getting acquainted.

She was a cute blond girl named Katy. Her parents were an older couple I thought were the grandparents. When they were leaving, they started telling me about her while joking about her flirting with us.

They said she was a “special baby.” She was born more than two months premature due to complications resulting from her birth-mother’s crack use. I don’t know how these people became the girl’s parents, but there was no doubt that they loved her intensely.

Abortion advocates devalue people like Katy. They call Trig Palin a political prop because they don’t understand radical right-to-lifers like Sarah Palin and me. I’m proud to be scorned by people like Nancy A. Foss.

Dennis Kelnhofer

Windham

I am the father of three children, all responsible and loving adult citizens today. They all came into being as the result of unintended pregnancies.

During my wife’s first pregnancy, I was a student and my wife held a part-time job. We had no health insurance and barely managed to make ends meet — sometimes even skimping on meals. Yet the idea of abortion never entered our minds, even though Roe v. Wade was the law of the land.

Instead we put our faith in God. I even considered dropping out of college. As responsible citizens we made financial arrangements for prenatal and postnatal care and managed to pay off our medical expenses before my son’s first birthday.

the same time we were debt-free, had a healthy child who enriched our lives immeasurably, and I graduated from college with improved grades.

I wonder how an abortion can be good for any woman, not to mention the precious life it takes away? Abortion will never, and I mean never, make men and women equal or more equal as some abortion proponents want us to believe.

Some things simply cannot be changed without causing undue harm in some way or another. Willfully undoing a pregnancy happens to be one of those things.

Regrettably, when a life is taken, especially an innocent life, we are all diminished in some way because our lives — our very own beings — are no longer considered worthy or precious on account of our shared humanity.

In my mind, abortion is undoubtedly the worst form of child abuse because every abortion unmercifully takes the life of an innocent child, who is not just a mere embryo, or fetus, or other ascribed medical classification.

Joel Martin

Fort Kent

CMP workers take the worst and deliver the best to clients

Albeit very late for the first incident, Jan. 9, I am writing a letter of appreciation to the linemen and women of Central Maine Power Co.

We live in a mobile home park. All of the wires run underground and we had 14 inches of snow on the ground. It was approximately 9:30 p.m., with a temperature of about 2 degrees or lower by the time they were able to restore power, about 3:30 a.m.

They had to locate a power box, dig a hole, put in a pole and run the lines across the street, climb two trees and run the wires down to another power supply source, as only one side of the street was without power.

While we were able to put on layers of clothes and pile on blankets, those linemen were exposed to the frigid temperatures for at least six hours to restore power to us.

Once again, on Feb. 24, we lost power again, as did thousands of others. We were only without power for 10½ hours, but these workers were dealing with 60 mph winds and torrential downpours. So, I would like to say a very big “thank you” to all of you for what you do.

Beverly Dubay

Saco

South Portland schools need help this group offers

A robust and healthy education system in South Portland has profound ramifications for every single citizen of our community.

It affects our children’s futures. It affects employment. It affects every property valuations. It impacts the property taxes that we all pay.

A prosperous, successful community cannot exist without a vibrant healthy school system. The Partnership for South Portland Schools is a community group formed last year that seeks to support the South Portland school system, logistically when possible, politically when feasible, and by giving parents and community members a forum in which to express their opinions and form valuable consensus about our schools. Such a consensus needs to be heard.

Currently, the South Portland school system is at a crossroads. We, as a community, face a number of difficult and complicated short- and long-term challenges. The high school is in need of significant repairs, its accreditation is at risk, funding for education is at recent historic lows, middle school consolidation is looming and we have schools and classes that are at, or over, capacity.

The primary goal of the Partnership is to provide information about, and transparency to, the process by which the School Board, School Department and City Council will use to solve these challenges.

There is a need for a practical long-term plan for our school system. This is a critical moment. South Portland residents need to be familiar with and have input into long- and medium-term operational budget solutions, under a variety of scenarios, as we go forward in uncertain times.

Help us improve education and the vibrancy of our great city by joining the Partnership. It costs nothing. An e-mail to psps@maine.rr.com will get you updates on regular meetings and important events related to education in South Portland.

Susan Adams and Peter Stocks

South Portland