Fence Post. - Free Online Library (2024)

Constable should stop using scare tactics

On Jan. 22, the Daily Herald published a column titled "If abortion were banned, and this mom had died, how is that pro-life?"

Columnist Burt Constable articulates a story of an "outspoken Naperville housewife and mother" who in her eighth month found out that she and her husband's baby had "severe abnormalities and no brain."

I can think of nothing more devastating and heartbreaking for any couple. Vikki Stella and her husband opted for an abortion because of her diabetes, and the feared physical strain of a full- term-delivery either killing, or rendering her infertile.

The choice to protect her health and life was sound. The attempt, however, by Constable to solidify "intact dilation and extraction" (sounds like collateral damage) or partial-birth abortion as a lifesaving procedure, borders on criminal. If this baby had been healthy, delivery would have occurred either naturally or by Caesarean section; wouldn't either have been as potentially dangerous as well?

Unless there is another means of birth, the premise of the entire column contradicts itself. Healthy baby birth is not dangerous; deformed baby partial-birth abortion is the saving grace. Does Constable think I have a head of cabbage on my shoulders?

Stella had had two other children, correct? So Stella's diabetes and physical strain were not an issue with her previously born healthy children?

Questions I do not have an answer to except that it is an election year:

- When is it that we began to measure candidates for nearly any office against a template of pro-life and pro-choice?

- Does our entire socioeconomic structure revolve around only that issue?

I say, Constable, stop using the power of print for scare tactics and then pointing your perceived finger of blame. I do not agree in their entirety with pro-life or pro-choice, since there are circ*mstances in which both are correct and both are wrong.

But there is nothing more to say about partial-birth abortion except that it is wrong under any circ*mstances because there is always another option. Lastly, what do you say to a Naperville mom who lost a child? "I am so sorry that this happened to you, and I pray that it will never happen to another woman ever."

Roy Berndt

Elk Grove Village

Very few abortions save a woman's life

Once again, I feel it necessary to respond to a column written by Burt Constable on abortion, and once again, we disagree.

We respect each other, but we do disagree. If I read the column correctly, Vikki Stella would have died if she had not had a partial-birth abortion.

I am not a medical doctor or an expert on her situation. It is an extremely rare circ*mstance that this procedure would be used. If a woman is in danger of dying, her life is always the one saved.

How many partial-birth abortions are done to save someone's life? How many are done because someone just "chose" to terminate (Webster's Dictionary: "put an end to; stop; cease) or abort their baby?

The column quotes Stella as saying, "I was speaking on the Supreme Court steps and the right-to-lifers were horrible to me."

I was not there so I can't say what actually happened.

I do know that type of thing happens on both sides of the issue. It happens to the pro-life people, too, some who just stand there and pray for a stop to abortion. But, unfortunately, that is not written about. I have heard of pro-life people being spit upon and treated terribly.

The same thing happened during the civil rights era. There were terrible things said and done on both sides. The bottom line there, though, was that blacks fought for and gained equal rights. It certainly was not a popular issue. Regretfully, I didn't speak up then as I should have. So I do now.

Stella also comments about angelic baby dolls with scissors sticking in the back of their head and "That isn't what my baby looked like." God help us if it is all right to do this to even one baby because it does not look "angelic."

My heart goes out to Vikki if it took this drastic measure to save her life.

I don't know what the statistics are for partial-birth abortions, but there have been more than 40 million babies aborted since Roe vs. Wade. How many were done to save a woman's life?

Burt has tremendous compassion for this woman, and so do I. If there truly was a sound medical reason for her to go through this procedure, my prayers go out to her. But he shouldn't be blindsided by a supposedly "rare" situation.

Kathy Muhr

Arlington Heights

With pet ownership comes responsibility

Pet security deposits should be refundable. People living in apartments/condos should be able to own a cat or dog. I volunteer for several shelters that have to put down unwanted animals. I have come in contact with hundreds of people who would love to have an animal but cannot because of their landlord.

If you signed a contract stating you will be a responsible pet owner, i.e.. clean up after your dog/cat, don't leave your dog crated in your apartment for hours on end with just a quick five- minute potty break in the morning then another after work.

I remember watching on TV the woman who hired a behavior specialist for her dog who barked all day long (according to the neighbor) and who had extreme separation anxiety. Upon closer inspection, it became clear the reasons for the dog behavior: locked in a very small crate in her owner's dark bedroom with no light, noise (radio) and left from early morning until well after 5 p.m. Who wouldn't bark! How would you like to be crated all day long with no chance of socialization or being able to go to the bathroom? Speaking of which, would those people who think they are above the fray please pick up after your animal's toilet debris.

If you cannot treat your animal as your best friend, then you don't deserve either.

Patricia E. Fraser

Rolling Meadows

Expand at O'Hare; don't build at Peotone

Peotone is not an answer to Chicago's air traffic woes at O'Hare.

O'Hare traffic will continue increasing and eventually will be required to expand or face even more stringent traffic caps that will hinder the airport and lead to greater delays and inconvenience to millions of passengers.

Why do I say Peotone will be a failure and a waste of tax funding?

It's simple. This same situation was faced less than a decade ago by St. Louis. Lambert International was reaching capacity, and delays were becoming unbearable. The idea drafted was to build a second airport outside the city to act as a reliever for Lambert.

The location selected was Scott Air Force Base in Belleville, Ill. Construction began and due to the use of part of the Air Force base, the cost was only $313 million.

The result was a state-of-the-art airport with a beautiful terminal, one runway long enough to accommodate large commercial airliners and plenty of room for expansion. The airport was only 27 miles east of St. Louis.

The airport was named MidAmerica Airport and was completed in 1998. However, prior to construction, every major airline stated it would not fly into the new airport. Finally, one airline signed on, Pan American Airlines.

Once the airport opened for business, Pan Am started with one flight, three times per week. The flight ran from Sanford, Fla., to Belleville. Demand was weak and for three years, this was the only flight operating out of this $300-plus million airport. Following the Sept. 11 attacks, Pan Am removed this flight from its schedule, and the airport now sits dormant for commercial airline traffic.

Why would Peotone be different? It is located farther from Chicago than MidAmerica is from St. Louis. All major airlines have stated that they will not utilize it.

Business will continue to use Midway and O'Hare flights for their employees, as the time to arrive at these airports is quick due to the availability of public transportation. With Peotone, people will not be able to hop a train or bus, as no service is conveniently located near the proposed site.

Expand O'Hare, plain and simple.

Andrew Smolenski

Niles

Abortion decisions must be made wisely

I am a woman, and I agree with Arlene P. Cayer (Fence Post, Jan. 22) about her opinion on certain men. Abortion does reflect a certain degrading attitude brought on by male chauvinists who often through their p*rnographic viewpoints tend to treat women as sexual objects.

When pregnancy occurs, they are often sent off for an abortion or discarded as broken toys who represent to them responsibility, which they flee from. Women are not playthings, nor should be regarded as such.

Allow me to quote John Rankin, a reverend from Connecticut. When women choose to abort because of "their hatred of male chauvinists, they remain slaves to the chauvinism because they fight back on chauvinistic terms - the 'power' to forsake, to abort."

There should be equal protection of women and the unborn. If any man has not affirmed the equality of a woman through the commitment of love and marriage first, then abortion frequently becomes the answer for unwanted pregnancy. This is an unfortunate consequence that can only cause destruction of the baby and the woman who will forever have to face what she has done to herself and the baby.

Why should women become slaves to men by succumbing to their decadence when we can still have a real life with meaning while being free from the inevitable guilt that will remain with us for the rest of our lives?

It is the women who will suffer the most. That is why we need to make wise choices. Our babies could turn out to be the most wonderful heart-warming person you'll ever want to know, one who will make a change for the better in our world if given the chance through the choice of adoption or keeping the baby.

Andrea Taylor

Bourbonnais

Critic is missing newpaper's qualities

A letter to the Fence Post, by Kirk Garanflo's Jan. 17 comment, requires me to suggest he get a life! His quotes, "I now give the Daily Herald an F" and "The word 'and' is a conjunction, not an interjection or an exclamation. Stop using it to begin a sentence!"

Hello?

I love my Daily Herald. I very much enjoy the series that you have chosen, Jack Mabley, the very talented Joel Reese, and even our witty weatherman as to what kind of day to expect.

Mrs. J.W. Thomas

Arlington Heights

All the euphemisms don't mask a holocaust

In her Jan. 17 Fence Post letter, Rae Olin Luskin, president of the Chicago North Shore Section, National Council of Jewish Women, uses all the standard euphemisms for the killing of innocent children: "right of reproductive choice"; "a woman's right to control her body"; "reproductive freedom"; "reproductive rights"; "a woman's right to choose."

How very sad that a representative of a group that was the victim of the second greatest holocaust in the history of the world now aggressively promotes the greatest holocaust in the world: abortion.

Robert Rudny

Palatine