ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 20, 1993                   TAG: 9304200418
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

`CHOICE' BILL WILL DESTROY FREEDOMS

ON JAN. 22, 1973, the decision of Roe vs. Wade provided legalized abortion to all women in the United States. Since that day, more than 23 million babies have been killed in their mothers' wombs. It is now estimated that one in three pregnancies end in abortion. As tragic as this is, things soon will get worse if we do not take an immediate stand.

A bill has been submitted called The Freedom of Choice Act, which would remove many (or all) of the restrictions placed on abortion by each individual state. Under the bill, a parent would no longer need to be notified if his or her daughter wanted an abortion. Women would not have to be legally provided with complete information concerning the abortion process or the actual development of their unborn child. This bill would permit late-term abortions (even after fetal viability) and abortions for such reasons as birth control and sex selection. There would no longer be a 24-hour waiting period, and hospitals would have no choice but to provide abortion services.

The Freedom of Choice Act is really not a matter of "freedom" at all. Under it, parents lose their freedom to counsel and uphold their children through a difficult time. Hospitals lose their freedom to choose whether or not they will destroy human life. Women lose their freedom to obtain necessary information and to think things through. States lose their freedom to regulate abortion, and taxpayers lose their freedom to choose if their tax dollars should fund abortions.

I urge all who care for human life to take a stand and stop this bill. There are millions of lives who depend upon you, because they can't yet speak for themselves. This is much more than an issue of politics; it's life and death. DAWN R. DALTON ROANOKE 


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