Re: “Commentary: Men pay no price under state abortion bans,” by Teri Carter (May 26, Page D1):

Once again the complaint about new pro-life abortion laws in nine states takes a new and unrelated tack: “My father abandoned me before my first birthday.”

Ms. Carter’s parents were married and divorced, and the stepfather adopted her. That was a legal process, which bears no relation to an unmarried woman, an unintended pregnancy and who is responsible. In addition, there are paternity statutes, if they are used, to hold men accountable when they father a child.

The real, unacknowledged purpose of these new laws is the protection of life, hopefully, from the moment of conception. Even Ms. Carter alludes to “this new definition of when life begins.” Interestingly, she makes no comment about the part or responsibility of the woman in the start of a pregnancy.

I know and can understand the arguments for abortion in the case of rape, incest and danger to the life of the mother. But as is fact, these cases make up a small minority of reasons for abortion. The majority of abortions are elective in nature, which means you could infer that the majority of pregnancies or actions that enhance the likelihood of pregnancy are elective in nature. If pregnancies are elective and one does not want to have an abortion, then perhaps a woman or a couple could act to prevent said pregnancy.

I recall a short story in Reader’s Digest many years ago. A woman’s mother-in-law would make her a new nightgown as a gift each Christmas. The couple had five children in five years. The sixth Christmas, the mother-in-law gave her another nightgown, this time with a drawstring around the bottom. Enough said.

Daniel J. Rooney

Sanford