I recently read your column “Abort this Law” in the Technician and just wanted to give you something to think about. I do not presume to know your background, from past experiences you may have cause to feel the way you do about abortion.

However, consider this: as stated the proposed bill does not outlaw abortion, but merely delays it. What is 24 hours in a life changing decision?

You stated, after hearing a fetal heartbeat / ultrasound, it “creates a previously unfounded level of emotional attachment for the parents of the unborn. This newfound attachment, when mandated that it fester for 24 hours, makes it highly unlikely that rationality overcomes emotionality for a second time.”

I don’t feel this is a battle between rational and emotion. Would you kill a person on just the basis that they may get in the way of your “career advancement?” Would you kill a person on the basis that they may jeopardize your future “financial security?” Of course not–that is irrational and immoral even without emotional attachment to that person. Plus the person you are trying to kill may object to it.

A fetus has no say unfortunately. The 24 hours to think things over is to help the parents make this connection. The heartbeat shows that this fetus has the potential to be a human some day. To abort a fetus, it is basically ripped out of the womb. Their need to survive is so strong, even this early, that no pill, no procedure, except manually detaching it from the uterine wall will cease that heartbeat.

I think perhaps the government’s resources would be better served in prevention than in fixing a problem. An ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure. Thank you for your time.