I am writing in response to Mr. Radcliff's "No compromises on abortion" letter last week urging the status quo of legally killing unborn baby girls and baby boys in this country be maintained. He worries West Virginia voters might follow the courageous example of Mississippi and thinks a quiet compromise is the best of all possible worlds.
I rather doubt if the one million-plus babies that are cut up in tiny pieces and destroyed in their mother's wombs every year before drawing their first breath would agree to that compromise. The status quo for nearly 400 years in this country was of a respect for life, which ended on Jan. 22, 1973. Every year the polls consistently show that more Americans are joining the ranks of the pro-life movement, as we become educated on the effects of abortion on women's health and the slippery slope the devaluation of human life has taken in this country over the last 40 years of legalized murder of the unborn.
A May 2012 Gallup Poll results showed 59 percent of Americans believe abortions should never be legal or legal only in a few circumstances. West Virginia voters have demonstrated in the last three presidential elections their preference for pro-life candidates.
It's telling that pro-choice Obama has already written off West Virginia for this fall. Radcliff compares those of us he calls conservatives with religious imperatives to Islamic fanatics, who embrace violence and religion: 99 percent-plus of all pro-lifers are followers of Jesus Christ, who love their God and his creation and are believers in the Bible which clearly states "thou shall not kill." They are trying to overturn an unjust law which allows for the destruction of tiny voiceless Americans which Radcliff refers to as a "fetus" which is a Latin word meaning "young one." No, we in West Virginia, Mississippi and the other 48 states will never quietly compromise on abortion - we will continue to chip away at Roe v. Wade until every child has the right to be born alive in the United States of America to pursue liberty and happiness as guaranteed by our founding fathers.
Patty Cooper
Vienna
