I don't live far from Clarksdale in a neighboring state and frankly that scene can be repeated all over the South where bible thumpers rule and there are few abortion clinics.

I have pretty much no patience for those dewey eyed protesters/believers who drag their children off to the clinics because they really do not give a rat's ass about the babies once they are born. The truth is the pro-life movement wants to condemn women and their children to a life of defeat and misery because somebody had sex.

I will agree to give up the right to safe and affordable abortion when we have free universal health care and education for every child born in America. I also agree that Roe vs Wade has been "technically" dead for quite some time down here. I don't even bother to defend myself in arguements when people call me " baby killer" because I support abortion rights I just say "Yeah, next..."

At the same time I feel frustruated with the mainline abortion rights advocates even though I also write my little checks because it is so obvious that Roe v Wade is over and in many way it will add to the abortion rights movement when it officially ceases. I would rather engage in the fight to start the fight over again on new grounds and terms that to keep fighting the same "ground hog day" style battles in which for some stupid reason abortion rights has been defined as a necessary "evil" even by supporters but nobody thinks it is a crime against humanity for children to grow up poor, neglected, and doomed to repeat a similar mistake once they become teenagers. Nuff said.

I can honestly say that I understand why so many individuals are opposed to abortion. What I cannot understand is why these same individuals are not working towards assisting women who cannot afford healthcare or the time off work needed to continue a healthy pregnancy, nor are they offering childcare or other services to assist these children once they are born.

I concur with the opinion that the women who will largely be affected by the increasingly-restrictive antibortion laws will indeed be those who cannot afford to take care of another child. I donate money to Planned Parenthood because I believe that all women should have access to healthcare, including services to prevent unplanned pregancy. As such, I realize that some women do have options other than becoming pregnant in the first place. However, rather than focusing solely on preventing access to abortion, why not focus on the unexpected or even unwanted children that are already here?

I believe that many people who profess to be "pro life" do have good intentions when they try to prevent women from seeking an abortion, rather than those who are simply making moral judgments. I also believe that, rather than concentrating their efforts on limiting access to abortion, those who are truly concerned about protecting life should consider spending their time and money helping the thousands of needy children currently living in this country.

If the antis cared about women and children they'd advocate for mandatory sex education and free birth control.

The other women posting letters couldn't be more right, in my opinion. However, something that is not being discussed is who is paying for these children. When poor people can not afford health care, and may have more children than they want or can afford - it's the taxpayers who end up paying for them. (Over two-thirds of children whose parents are employees of Wal-Mart have no health care other than that provided by Medi-Cal.) The thing that makes me crazy is seeing a bunch of MEN trying to legislate something that doesn't concern them. Next time you get ready to spooge without a condom, make sure it's with someone who shares your political viewpoint - because if you don't have a uterus, you don't get to have an opinion about this.

Although I agree with the other letters published below, I am weary of the notion that because I am not a woman, I do not get to have an opinion on abortion, as a previous writer just suggested.

As a man, if I father a child, I am a big part of that pregnancy. I have responsibilities and therefore I have rights. In fact, it's for this reason that while I support a woman's right to choose, I am sometimes uncomfortable with it being protected under the umbrella of "privacy," since that presumably shuts me out.

More importantly, I believe that while the future of abortion is uncertain, so is how our present-day abortion rights will be viewed in the future. It's entirely possible that several generations after abortion is outlawed, moral people will be at a loss for how their moral predecessors could have supported the pro-choice movement. I don't know that this will happen, but it seems like a reasonable possibility. If so, then nothing less than how our country and our generation will be understood is at stake, and I have a stake in that-- uterus or no.

Sadly, the underlying (im)moral philosophy behind those who hate abortion is largely missed in this debate. In the view of these stone-aged, stone-hearted people, women are expected to be the gate keepers to men's sexuality. This sick and twisted system designed by and for men and supported by a large group of sick and dysfunctionally twisted women, holds that men are incapable of sexual sin (as long as they're straight) and women are completely responsible for any pregnancies which occur. Men are expected to push women for sex because "that's the way men are." Women are expected to resist men - even to the extent of enduring physical violence and death. A woman who acquiesces to a man's demands for sex is, quite literally, a "fallen" woman and therefore deserving of a life of misery whether that means being an unwed mother without the support of the father(s) of her child(ren) or being a married mother with far more children than she and her husband can adequately care for.

For these people, abortion is wrong because its availability allows women not to receive the proper punishment for their misdeeds. In the end, these people, whose entire perspective on life is not based on religion nor on any carefully-considered moral code but rather, on building a world to fit their own psychologically dysfunctional doubts, fears and insecurities cannot be reasoned with. They can only be defeated. Our desire to find some middle ground has already largely lead to their victory. Until we are willing to stand up against their seductive arguments and unmask them for the evil they are, we will continue to lose.