LETTER: Their Choice

I was rather disturbed after the pro-life/pro-choice debate on Wednesday night (DP 3/26/92). How could Susan Smith consistently keep her stand while Kate Michelman danced around like a kite, playing on the emotions of the audience, tickling their ears, but successfully avoiding the true question that had been raised? Is abortion really murder? Is it the taking of a life? Most scientists would heartily agree that a fetus has its own genetic makeup different from its mother's, and is a seperate living human being. Certainly a fetus is dependent on its mother, but so is a young child. I do not deny that the issues surrounding abortion are complex and involve serious questions, but I think many facts are misrepresented. For example, only about one percent of all abortions are performed because of rape or incest. And almost 50 percent of women who have an abortion have had at least one previous to that. Also, many people believe that the demand for adoption is low. This is not true; conservative estimates say that for each available child there are four families willing to adopt. Women and children over the millennia have been repressed, but finally some justice is being done -- women finally have a voice, and a choice, of their own. But why is their voice and choice being raised against those who still have no voice or choice of their own? 25,000,000 babies have been destroyed in the United States alone over the last 18 years. Today, there is one abortion for every two live births! When will children be given the freedom to live? I believe that is their choice. MIKE SAUDER Graduate Student Biophysics