Letters: Each abortion kills a human being

Each abortion kills a human being

All five letters to the editor on July 13 bemoaned the Iowa Legislature’s passage of the so-called "fetal heartbeat" abortion ban two days earlier. One of the letters fittingly emphasized society’s need to provide extensive birth control to males and females in order to prevent unwanted pregnancies; the other four attacked the legislative attempt to interfere with a woman’s right to control her own body.

None of the letters, however, mentioned the fact that by supporting a woman’s reproductive rights at the expense of the life of the fetus they are killing another human being. The human embryo/fetus is not a bunch of carrots. It is a living human being in the earliest stage of its human development, and those of us who defend its right to life are not raving fascists who wish to impose an unreasonable imposition on the rights of women.

The human fetus, by virtue of its participation in the miracle that human life is, deserves the same protection of the law that applies to all human beings: big and small, Black and white, male and female.

Although there are exceptions, in the overall balance of things we find that the right to life of the human being outweighs the mother’s concerns over the various travails that may derive from her pregnancy.

— Steve Perlowski, Des Moines

Listen to retailers on Ingersoll

Hey urban planners, be careful what you wish for on Ingersoll Avenue. Way back when, in the 1970s, it was the fashion to remove street parking from downtowns, lay pretty brick streets over the concrete, line them with trees and seating and then watch the shoppers scurry away to suburban shopping centers where they could park within sight of the store.

Walnut Street in Des Moines was a perfect example. As the celebratory motorcade carrying the political funders drove down the newly bricked, planted and carless Walnut, they were followed out of town by shoppers leaving for the suburbs, taking their cars and money with them.

Away went D’Arcy’s, Wolfs and Norman Cassidy’s (my favorites), and a multitude of others. Only the stalwart Josephs remained. The city gave Younkers a bribe to stay downtown, and owner Equitable of Iowa hired retail guru Tom Gould to save the store, but the absent shoppers were too much even for him.

If Starbucks says it needs 16 parking spaces, you can bet that’s so. Starbucks knows what it takes to be successful. So do most retailers. They should be leading the way.

— Myrt Levin, Des Moines

Ethanol is destructive, period

In response to the July 16 letter from the CEO of Growth Energy, an ethanol advocacy PAC, I would like to assert that Skor’s "facts" are specious. The whole industry is based on misunderstandings and falsehoods that have been boosted by people who profit from this pro-ethanol propaganda. Much of that profit is derived from taxpayers.

It is nonsensical to tout the "scientific fact" that "bioethanol" (do you mean 10% ethanol blend gasoline?) reduces emissions by up to 46%. Are you accounting for all the carbon inputs required to grow corn? And all the ethanol production carbon inputs? Also, are you acknowledging the significant and far-ranging environmental costs of corn production?

Lastly, do you understand the scientific fact that soil contains a huge amount of carbon, and that growing corn releases CO2 into the atmosphere? On the other hand, properly managed pasture absorbs CO2. This understanding contributes to a growing realization that land use choices could very well be the most significant strategy we have to combat global warming.

Growing corn to make ethanol is a horrible land use choice. It just plain doesn't matter how "bioethanol" performs after it's made.

— Art Staniforth, Ames

Pay attention to what Republican governors are up to

The Register gives guest columnists a chance to show a broad perspective on ideas that might have slipped past us, sometimes in the dark of night or the heat of the day. Thank you to Fred Hubbell for speaking up on an important human rights issue involving workers’ rights.

To put things in perspective, Hubbell is a retired Iowa business executive with many years of successful construction projects. He knows more than a little bit about construction and human rights, and he disagrees with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s mandate to take away the right of people working in sweltering heat to have a 10-minute water break every four hours. Picture yourself or your child or your parent working outside in sweltering heat for fourr hours without the chance to have a 10-minute water break, and you see just how unjust Abbott’s mandate is.

Hubbell says Iowa’s governor, Kim Reynolds, hasn’t followed Abbott on that particular inhumane law. But it looks to me like Reynolds is right there walking on the path of a coalition of Republican governors who want to trample on citizens’ rights. I see that she’s against mandating a living wage, against trusting librarians and teachers, against workers’ bargaining power, against trusting women to make personal health decisions, even against our Democratic auditor whose job it is to alert us to fraud.

I’m glad Hubbell shined the light on Abbott’s inhumane new law. It’s important in itself, but it has even broader implications than a righteous water break.

— Marilynn Wadden, Des Moines

Men manage to avoid responsibility for pregnancy

I am a Catholic. I do believe life begins at conception. I would not choose abortion for myself. I have had occasion to counsel two women, one a friend, the other an employee, when they were considering that option. I know my friend did not choose abortion, and that her daughter, a woman in her 40s now, is of great service to elderly persons in her community.

I also understand that not everyone has formed their conscience in the same way I have, and do not share my beliefs or the basis for them. I have long wished that churches, government, and medical personnel would open their hearts, minds, government surpluses and pocketbooks to support the women who face this choice primarily out of economic need — a Christian alternative to demonizing them.

Lastly, my mother always said, "It takes two" regarding unplanned pregnancies. In all of the abortion discussions within my lifetime (70-plus years), I have yet to hear a call to men to be responsible – to not rape or assault women, to accept and care for the children they sire, to choose to be a father and to do it well.

I find this so interesting since men have control of the courts, the legislatures, and the medical profession and have chosen to focus on the women alone, as though they, the men, had nothing to do with creating the situation in which women find themselves.

— Catherine Witte, Waukee

Reynolds’ choice of venue shows it’s all about her

While I always suspected that Kim Reynolds' interest in passing the “fetal heartbeat” bill was to promote her own stature and exposure in the national Republican Party, her signing the bill in front of the national media and Republican presidential candidates has just confirmed such. This media circus event at the Family Leader conference with Tucker Carlson playing a major role made it all about her and what she wants.

— Lloyd Kaufman, Des Moines

How will Iowa feel about women leaving for abortions?

With the recent legislative prohibition relative to abortion, I wonder if we in Minnesota will experience a huge influx of Iowa women traveling north to obtain abortions in Minnesota. Or, will the Iowa state government build a wall on the state line to restrict women from traveling north?

— Terry Henry, St. Paul, Minnesota

Law leaves no choices in many abnormality cases

Our attention-seeking governor just signed the “fetal heartbeat” bill into law. A state representative called for abstinence in response to those protesting loss of reproductive freedom.

I want Republicans to know that, somewhere in this state, there is a pregnant woman in her first trimester. Genetic and anatomical testing will reveal the baby will likely be born with serious, potentially fatal medical issues. But due to the new legislation, she has no choice but to carry this baby to term.

Can you imagine the pain of hearing this news and knowing you have no voice in what happens next? Our governor and legislative majority have no business dictating how women and families navigate such a personal, painful decision.

And yet here we are. Gov. Kim Reynolds got her headline. And somewhere an Iowa woman’s life will never be the same.

Abortion is health care.

— Andrea Reser, Urbandale

Permissiveness on fireworks lowers quality of life

I am one of those folks that believe that firework sales should be banned so that ALL of us can enjoy the holiday.

So many people do not follow the rules, waking us up at all hours of the night as people "celebrate" when we have to go to work the next day. We've had ashes fall on us and our home and bottle rockets shoot past us.

This ridiculous allowance for fireworks has not improved the quality of my life and quite honestly, has made the Fourth of July less enjoyable.

— Mary Schwarze, West Des Moines

Republicans keep making it worse

While Republicans have been busy tackling non-problems like trans kids playing sports, or using the right bathroom, or taking away the health care rights of women in our state, Iowa is facing a real and prolonged challenge: population growth.

From 1958 to 2022, the US population increased by nearly 91%. During the same period, Iowa's population grew by only 18%. By comparison, Nebraska's population grew by 42%, Kansas by 37%, Missouri by 47%, South Dakota 38%, Illinois 27%, and Minnesota 72%. Every state surrounding us grew in population by 1.5 times to 3.5 times what Iowa did.

In short, no one wants to move to Iowa and that is a problem for our businesses. Ask any business owner what the greatest challenge facing their organization is and they will tell you it’s attracting and retaining top talent.

So when I watch Republicans pass attack after attack on children, on the marginalized, and on women, I wonder why they don't attack a real issue facing Iowa like our lack of population growth? Why aren’t they trying to make the state more welcoming and attractive to workers and business owners?

I emailed each Iowa Republican legislator in advance of the recent abortion ban and pointed out that such a law will continue to drive people away from the state. Not one of them took the time to address my argument regarding population growth.

In fact, the only response I got was from a freshman legislator in a dwindling rural community which read “you sound like someone who aborted their child.” It would be funny if it wasn’t so pathetic.

Republicans aren’t serious about solving real problems. They’re only interested in enacting their radical agenda, which isn’t supported by the people of Iowa. Republicans just keep making things worse.

— Brett Middendorf, West Des Moines

Respect my daughter’s autonomy

I want my daughter to live in a state where she has autonomy over her body, where the decisions she makes regarding her body are made only between her and a doctor; not by me, not by a church and certainly not by Kim Reynolds. It is her body and she will be the one to deal with the consequences of either a pregnancy or an abortion. No one else. Full stop. One would assume that the person actually dealing with the consequences, should make that decision.

When I accompany my daughter to a doctor’s appointment, I ask permission to be in the room. If I’m told “no,” I respect that. I am her mother and I respect that. So the hubris of an administration to insert its presence in the room of a patient and her doctor and make personal, medical, decisions that will affect the rest of her life, when her own mother accepts that these are her decisions, is a gross affront to personal freedom. Freedom should, at the very least begin with our bodies.

— Elise Free, Des Moines

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Letters: Each abortion kills a human being