It is disheartening to read Judy Icenogle’s letter condemning abortions with no exceptions.
Recently on a country road, a young woman was sexually abused by a man holding a knife to her throat. She managed to run for help. He chased her with his car. With a broken leg she fell helpless just yards away from where he smashed into a tree. A neighbor came to her rescue, called 911 and waited for help to arrive.
Icenogle, a right-to-life proponent, believes if this woman became pregnant, she should be forced to have the rapist’s baby. Her religion teaches that “human life is divinely created in the womb.” Rape is not divine.
In countries where abortion is illegal, girls as young as nine who have been raped and impregnated are forced to give birth. The U.N. Committee to protect children begged the Vatican to allow abortion for these children. They refused.
What right does Icenogle have to demand women and girls be forced to bear unwanted children? Abortion is legal in this country.
Of great concern is President Trump’s support from Christian fundamentalist religions. He has promised them to repeal Roe v. Wade and public money for their institutions. He packed the Supreme Court with white conservative males to make good his promise to them for their support in the 2020 presidential election. Our U.S. Constitution provides protection for the separation of church and state, but that is now in jeopardy with Trump’s Supreme Court.
Gene L. Proctor
Topsham
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