Separate religion from laws

To the editor:

(re: “Abortion is murder,” July 11)

Mr. Bialek’s assertion in his letter to the editor that abortion is murder requires a response. Although he does not mention religion, his certainty that a fetus — indeed, a zygote — is a human being is based on his religious beliefs. He seems unaware that other older, and in my view wiser, religions do not share his extreme view.

The implication in law and practice of subjecting every woman who has a miscarriage to a murder inquiry are sufficiently horrifying to me to reject completely Mr. Bialek’s assertion.

Also, Mr. Bialek’s ignorant assertion that “abortion today is used primarily as a birth control of convenience because people are too self-centered to take precautions,” ignores that the most reliable method of female birth control costs $1,000 — a sum few poor women can afford.

I will not comment on his snide jab at women who fought for the right to control their own bodies. It is, perhaps, his appeal to the Constitution that is most offensive, since the Constitution is quite clear that there will be no establishment of religion.

Mr. Bialek’s sincerely held religious beliefs are specifically Christian beliefs, and should not be imposed on people who do not subscribe willingly to those beliefs. That path leads to theocracy and 100-year wars.

Helen Krim

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