Women’s rights targeted

“Put pregnancy prevention first” (Letters, Dec. 15) brought up a good point: that pregnancy prevention should be emphasized more in order to prevent abortions. However, there are some interesting dynamics shaping this debate.

In general, pro-life groups have not embraced contraception as a tool to reduce the number of abortions. Rather, they have fought against things like condom-usage education in schools and easier access to birth-control pills.

While I respect their steadfast adherence to their moral value of sexual abstinence, it is a well-established fact that abstinence education alone is the least effective in terms of preventing unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

If their goal was truly to reduce the number of abortions, I find it hard to believe that they would not encourage contraception.

However, the goal of pro-life groups is not to reduce abortions. Instead, it is to control women’s sexuality and impose their particular set of ethics. I therefore encourage all those who believe in women’s rights to realize that abortion rights mean more to women than merely the right to an abortion; they are a means of protecting their choice to live life as they choose.

Charles Du

Spokane