Letters to the Editor

Pro-life groups aid women

To the Editor:

I would like to respond to Kevin Collins' claim ("Trying to find the middle on abortion," The Daily Pennsylvanian, 04/19/04) that the pro-life movement is typically "more interested in abolishing reproductive choice than it is in aiding women and children." This is a common misconception about the pro-life cause which pro-choice groups insist on perpetuating, while ignoring the fact that there are numerous pro-life groups that proactively attempt to offer assistance to pregnant women, as well as women who have suffered physical and mental anguish as a result of having an abortion.

Turn to the "abortion alternatives" section of any phonebook, and you will see listings of crisis pregnancy centers that offer women free counseling and support services, including information about health care, housing, job training, financial assistance and adoption. These centers also provide post-abortion counseling to women in need of it. The group Feminists for Life argues that "abortion is a reflection that we have not met the needs of women" and seeks to eradicate abortion because "women deserve better."

The Silent No More Awareness Campaign is an organization of women who have had abortions and courageously speak out about the physical and emotional harm it has caused them in order to awaken others to the horror of abortion. The Catholic Church operates Project Rachel, a network of professional counselors and priests who provide one-on-one psychological and spiritual care and facilitate support groups for those who are suffering because of an abortion. Clearly, there are pro-life organizations which are more interested in aiding women and children than "abolishing reproductive choice."

While Kevin and other pro-choicers are marching in D.C. to "save women's lives," many pro-life activists are quietly doing their part to give women the support they need to avoid abortion and to heal the scars of past abortions.

Anne McKnight

College '04

Member, Penn for Life

What Israel should teach us

To the Editor:

As an American student in Israel, I read Donna Gentile O'Donnell's recent column ("Israel has much to teach us on Iraq," DP, 04/16/04) with great interest. O'Donnell believes that Israel has much to "teach" the United States where Iraq is concerned, on matters like "securing its borders from hostile forces; having the capacity to root out terrorist threats from within its borders; having the singleness of purpose that permits action in the face of international pressure and diplomatic muddling." Her main example of such tough "realism" is the 1981 bombing of Iraq's nuclear reactor, though she makes a few cryptic references to "Israel's war within its borders."

It would have behooved O'Donnell, however, to elaborate on the specifics of this "war," for its lessons now seem to hold greater pertinence. Americans should note that the Israeli army will likely begin to withdraw from the Gaza Strip in the near future, and that Israeli settlers and soldiers will eventually have to vacate the West Bank as well. Israel has occupied both since 1967 in misguided pursuit of "security." In reality, the occupation has been a source of misery and carnage for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

This is not to adopt the spent clich‚ that the "occupation produces terrorism" -- foreign occupations have been resisted nonviolently as well, and perpetrators of terror are, in the end, their own masters. Nevertheless, Israel's occupation provides an excuse for those who terrorize it to legitimize their actions and to recruit Palestinians angered for justifiable reasons to perpetrate unjustifiable deeds. Were Israeli troops and settlers removed from the West Bank and Gaza, few could criticize Israel's efforts to defend itself. As the American occupation of Iraq becomes increasingly resented, and as the case for war looks increasingly suspect, we have begun to learn, painfully, that legitimacy matters. Maybe that is what the Israeli experience should "teach" Americans.

Avshalom Rubin

SAS '03

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