The abortion debate.

• Position: Letter to the editor

Your article "Glee in the Anti-Abortion Crowd" (by Eleanor Bader, September issue) confirms what I've always known: The so-called pro-life movement is really about the control of women.

Since when is it a good idea for political moralists and uninterested lawmakers to tell doctors how to practice medicine? If a woman at any stage of her pregnancy needs an abortion to preserve her life or health, it is not the business of government to interfere.

When it comes to decisions about their personal and private lives, most people will make their own choices, legal or otherwise. Government has been very slow to learn this. We failed at prohibiting alcohol. We are suffering through the monstrous problem we created by prohibiting drugs. We will fail at prohibiting abortion. The back-alley operators will again set up shop. One way or another the job will be done. Count on it.

Joan C Manning

Shasta Lake, California

I am a fervent believer that this world can and should be a better place, and that we should all be working towards that goal. This is what makes me a progressive. I believe in protecting individual liberty and civil rights, including the rights of people who are homosexual to marry and adopt children. I oppose war and the death penalty. I believe in a living wage and universal health care coverage; the right of labor to organize; the elimination of corporate money in politics; basic human dignity for all people (American citizens or not); and helping those in need with government programs. The poverty line should be raised dramatically--as many people considered "middle class" by their income levels cannot afford basic needs.

I also believe that abortion should be illegal. This is why I take issue with the article "Glee in the Anti-Abortion Crowd." I am surprised and disappointed that The Progressive would print such a shoddy piece of...