Without life, what else matters?

According to Froma Harrop’s column on Oct. 29, titled “‘Access’” to birth control doesn’t count,” she equates “free” contraceptives with a “virtuous economic cycle” as touted by Melinda Gates, who obviously isn’t a Catholic who follows the fundamental teachings of the Catholic Church against complying with intrinsic evils.

Will we really be better off economically by not creating children who will one day work in the workforce and financially contribute to our society? We can see the effects of the contraceptive mentality today as there are not enough younger adults in the workforce to help pay for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid for our aging population. As a nation, we have killed millions of our children by abortion. And how is it virtuous, i.e. morally right, or chaste?

“Free” is really never “free.” We will all pay for it. One of the consequences of this “freeness,” is reduced benefits for women’s real health care issues such as the yearly Pap smear, which will be covered only once every three years. Cervical cancer, if not caught early, can kill. Rarely does a pregnancy kill the mother of the child.

The “free” pill also comes with its share of consequences such as exposure to the risk of an unwanted pregnancy, because the pill is not 100 percent effective, or abortion, a medical procedure that can kill both mother and child, STDs, increased irritability, increased propensity to depression, weight gain, a reduced libido, breast cancer, heart attack, stroke, blood clots, high blood pressure, liver tumors, gallstones and in the end will heighten a woman’s infertility when she goes off the pill and wants to start a family.

Protection of our first right in the Constitution, life, is paramount. For without life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are meaningless.

Sandra Smith

Campton Hills