Dear Editor:

I may not be a fetus, but I have this silly notion that as a woman, I should have rights, too. Reading Stephen Ontko’s riveting editorial regarding abortion, stem-cell research and other evils of the world – well, it’s easy to forget that women exist at all.

Throughout the course of the past few weeks, Obama has proved that he values science over religious dogma. Furthermore, Obama has actually acknowledged female reproductive rights (unlike his predecessor). Although Ontko does not directly mention women in his article, he does eloquently state that anyone who voted for Obama “… demonstrates the most egregious lapse in conscience and moral development.”

I never realized that my moral development was so stunted. Perhaps I should stop drinking my morning cup of coffee.

Speaking from the standpoint of a person with a uterus, I believe that women are entitled to reproductive rights. The Stephen Ontkos of this world care a great deal for the unborn; however, they seem to ignore the living.

According to the BBC, a 9-year-old girl from Brazil was raped and impregnated by her stepfather. The Catholic Church deemed that the doctor who performed the abortion, as well as her mother, should be excommunicated. As for the rapist? Apparently rape is not a severe enough offense to merit excommunication. A church official from Brazil laments in a BBC report that “It is a sad case but the real problem is that the twins conceived were two innocent persons, who had the right to live. . . Life must always be protected, the attack on the Brazilian Church is unjustified.”

Life must be protected. What about the life of a 9-year-old girl? Did she deserve to be raped and forced to carry her stepfather’s children? It amazes me that in the year 2009 women are still viewed as dispensable baby-makers in the eyes of the world.

Although many cases of abortion are not for such an extreme reason, I, too, question the right to life. I question the right of men, conservatives and Bible thumpers to make a decision regarding my life and the lives of other women.

– Sydney Taylor

junior art history major