Janet Easley wants Washington to be “life friendly” and is grateful her parents chose to give birth to her (“Thankful for life,” Our Readers’ Views, March 28).
I am glad her parents had the choice; so many didn’t before 1973 and, now, in many states, they once again don’t have a choice — women are being forced into carrying pregnancies to term, regardless of circumstances, their health or the health of the fetus.
I don’t know how she defines “life friendly.” I think a state that focuses on reducing the impacts of climate change, that offers good services and a safety net to its residents, that provides good public health measures like mandatory vaccines for schoolchildren, that ensures an environment where all can live, shop, thrive without worrying about being discriminated against for their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, that cares for the natural environment, that allows people to plan their family size — these are among the many things that make a state “life friendly.” Forcing women to give birth? Not life friendly at all.
We need to return this country back to a “life friendly” country that understands giving people — women — control over their own medical choices is essential to that quest.
