28 Aug 89

Representative Jim Horn

Lakeland Shopping Center

Lewisville, Texas 75067

(214) 221-2773

Dear Representative Horn:

Once again the newspaper brings disturbing news: some 64% of the people surveyed by The Texas Poll thought abortion was a form of murder, but only 48% thought the state should try to regulate abortion.

If I recall, you have stated support for the basic viewpoint espoused by Right To Life, that is that abortion is murder and should not be protected by law. I take for granted the state legislature will undertake a vigorous debate about this issue soon, and I wanted to express my opinion as one of your constituents.

It is my strongly held belief that mankind is in no position to determine when the life of an innocent person is unworthy of the fundamental protection of the law. That so called womens' rights groups tout abortion as a matter of privacy and control over their bodies is nothing more than an attempt to camouflage the issue, that an unborn child is a life that must be protected as all human lives are.

If a woman wants to exercise control over her body, she can take precautions to prevent pregnancy. To be ignorant of the cause of pregnancy does not give one the right to kill a child. To weep that numerous women will lose their lives in illicit abortions in back alleys does nothing more than demonstrate the sad depths to which the radical womens' groups opinion of their own kind has fallen. There are several morally correct, humanitarian ways in which a young mother can shed responsibility for having brought a child into this world that she does not want. To kill the child before its birth is the coward's solution, taken at the expense of the helpless.

Where will the line get drawn if Texas indorses the murder of this class of helpless individuals? How long until other helpless individuals get classified as expendable?

Nor do I believe cases of rape or incest justify abortion. These tragic acts of violence do not provide the foundation to compound the tragedy by killing a child. A tragedy which causes personal humiliation, pain, and financial agony is not cause to kill an innocent byproduct of the event. Divorce does not grant anyone the right to do away with the former spouse or anyone else.

Abortion is murder and cannot be condoned under any circumstances except self-protection. A mother has the right, but not the obligation, to terminate the life of someone who may cause her serious injury or death.

Yes, even if the one causing the injury is unable to influence his actions.

Take up the Right To Life campaign. Unwanted children have a right to want themselves; and to make their own life in this world. We cannot cheapen life by allowing people to choose abortion as a convenient method of birth control. It is not birth control; it is a thoughtless, callous, hateful disregard for the sanctity of life.

Sincerely,

STUART L. BROGDEN