Editor,
The 7 July issue of the Whidbey News-Times carried a letter to the editor that contained a lot of biased information which needs to be corrected.
First, calling people “left-wing loonies” is hardly a great way to characterize people with views different from your own.
Secondly, the separation of families and their children without any significant plans for reuniting them is immoral, especially in contrast to the statement that the family separation is “for a short period of time.”
Neither the separated families nor the government seems to know how long such separations might last and some have already lasted for several months. Some in the administration have even said that they have no idea where the children might be located.
Thirdly, the assumption that all undocumented individuals in the country are lawbreakers is incorrect. There are U.S. and international laws regarding individuals who enter the country seeking asylum from violent conditions in their home countries. Such claims must be investigated though there are reports from the border that asylum seekers are being treated like criminals and not being given the credibility hearings they require.
The letter writer goes on to castigate people who seek abortions as “murderers” regardless of the circumstances. Circumstances, though, are important as is the timing of an abortion. It is immoral to use abortions as a method of birth control but it is appropriate in cases of rape, incest and so on. By the way, abortion opponents are often birth control opponents as well, which in my mind is logically inconsistent.
Another problem is that overturning Roe v. Wade is not going to stop abortions. As one who grew up in the era of abortions being illegal, I know what happens when abortions are illegal—they become unavailable to those without money while affluent citizens simply go on “vacations” to areas where abortion is legal.
In summary, there is much more to the problems than “left-wing loonies” like, perhaps, right-wing loonies.
Jerry Case,
Coupeville
