Abortion is a human rights issue

I strongly disagree with the March 12 letter of Dereck Paschal. Abortion is not a religious issue, it's a human rights issue. Mr. Paschal must have forgotten that before he was a 4-year-old boy, he was a 4-month old fetus. Our current laws offer no protection for the unborn, whose continued survival exists at the discretion of its mother. In the U.S., protection for a young human being doesn't begin until it is completely born. (Partial-birth abortions are done during the birthing process.) Why must there be an "either/or" side of the issue? For women experiencing a crisis pregnancy, life-giving help can be found in the phone book under "abortion-alternatives."

Mary Ann Cronauer

Naperville