Letters to the Editor
To the Editor,
Freedom, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
That sums up what my country means to me. I recently attended a debate between the candidates for our Oklahoma legislature. Both men voiced their support for personal choice. I had to agree with most of that, but then I started thinking about where my freedom of choice is curtailed here in Oklahoma.
Our legislature has passed bills that ban books, removing books that some individuals find offensive. In schools, the parents already can prevent their child from reading certain books, which is their freedom to do so. When someone claims their freedom to take away my freedom, I have a problem. My happiness increases with the books that I read, helping me understand the diversity in our wonderful melting pot of a county.
Probably the most impassioned choice today is women’s healthcare and abortion freedom. Our legislature passed the most radical abortion bill imaginable. There are no exceptions for rape or incest, so a 10-yearold girl who suffered from rape is now forced to carry that fetus to term, ruining her emotional and physical health. Abortion is allowed when a woman’s life is in danger, but she may have to wait in the parking lot until she is seriously sick. I must ask, where is the woman’s freedom to choose the right decision for her? What happens when her doctor tells her the fetus has no heartbeat? Carry it to term? What should a woman do who is unemployed and already has several other children?
Let us remember that our freedom gives us the right to make our own choices.
One of the candidates said, “I don’t believe in abortion.” Does that give him the right to vote for abortion bills that take away that freedom from everybody else?
Freedom! Can your beliefs regarding social or moral issues supersede my freedom? I don’t think so.
Sherrie McNall Newcastle
