Abortion is the violent destruction of the unborn. Ms. Gampper's letter claims that ending abortion depends on the "impossible" task of finding "a specific set of morals that apply to all". But we already did find moral agreement against bigotry based on race. Now we need to end bigotry against tiny, developmentally-dependent humans in the womb.

It is a cruel irony that decades after establishing that the economic health of southern farmers did not justify treating black slaves as property instead of people, certain intellectuals will not ban abortion until an economic utopia can be guaranteed in America. The American suffragette feminists rejected abortion as justifiable; Elizabeth Cady Stanton called it "degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit."[Letter to Julia Ward Howe, October 16, 1873]

Ms. Gampper, scoffing that anyone is "pro-abortion", seems unaware of the selfish "third-wave" feminism spearheaded by the author she recommended, Jennie Baumgartner, and her "Manifesta" co-author, Amy Richards. Richards proudly recounted in the New York Times how, at age 34, pregnant with triplets by her boyfriend (who wanted to parent all 3), she "selectively" aborted two of her triplets because, in her words, triplets would be inconvenient to her lecturing schedule and would condemn her to a life of buying mayonnaise in giant jars at Cosco. Read Richards' skewed logic and immorality in the service of egoism at http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B07EED6113BF93BA25754C0A9629C8B63

Those who sanction abortion as a solution to poverty and personal problems need to be confronted with the appalling results of that violence in the genocide awareness campaign. As Mother Teresa said, "It is a true poverty that a child must die so that we may live as we please."

Thank you for the thoughtful article.

I don't believe the writer said or even referred to abortion as being a "solution" to poverty but a result of it. I found it a thoughtful article.

Abortion is the premeditated murder of parasites. Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? NO! says the feminist, it belongs to the woman. NO! says washington, it belongs to the democrats. NO! says moscow, it belongs to the state. I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose...
Rapture.

"Instead of arguing in endless circles about such things as when “life” begins and trying to find a specific set of morals that apply to all (something which we need to accept as an impossibility)."

I see. I am supposed to give up opposing abortion from a moral standpoint because the author thinks that people all should admit moral relativism (nihilism).

A large percentage of women are having abortions not out of the fear that they won't have a "healthy pregnancy," or because they face limited access to health care. They are having them for exactly the reason that Jennifer Baumgardner's friend Amy Richards had two...convenience.

How can women with such limited access to healthcare achieve an abortion in the first place? Isn't abortion considered by the pro-abortion contingent as some perverted type of "health care" after all? Doesn't access to abortion services = access to healthcare in that sense?

I think a lot of people are missing the point here.

What Miss. Gampper is trying to say is that we need to reduce the number of abortions by reducing the number of violent sexual crimes against women, increase access to proper health care, increase proper sex education, and bring our most at-risk/poverty stricken populations to a higher standard of living.

In other words: instead of screaming at each other until we're blue from hyperventilation, exhaustion, and anger we should look at all the social issues that contribute to people having abortions to prevent future abortions.

Now there's a novel idea - analyze, address, and resolve the causes instead of being angry at the effects.

No one is screaming. But we are saying that while many people use this arguement about how poverty causes unwanted pregnancies, the statistics do not bear that out. Surprising as it may seem, most abortions are not performed on teenagers, rape victims, abused or poverty stricken women. In fact poorer women are more likely to keep their babies. No, the vast majority of women who choose to have abortions are middle class and in their 20s and 30s. Women in the US today are better educated and better off financially than any previous generation of women. Many could choose to raise their babies or give them up for adoption. It would require work and unselfishness and a change in plans, but usually not extreme hardship.

In my opinion, until it's YOUR life and YOUR body, you have no say. You never know what you will do in a situation until you're actually faced with it.