To:  The Editor

From:  Alfrieda J. Englund

71 Cameron Cove

Munsonville, NH 03457

603-847-9727

October 15, 2008

I am a pro-life voter.  The word has been hijacked by one-issue voters who are really only conditionally pro-life, and  I would like to reclaim this term:

I am pro-life because I do not believe in capital punishment or torture.

I am pro-life because I do not advocate sending men and women to war, especially when the war is unjustified, ill-conceived, and manipulatively sold to the public. 

I am pro-life because I believe that working individuals deserve an adequate wage with which they can lead healthy lives and provide opportunities for their children. 

I am pro-life because I believe that people who cannot provide for themselves deserve a healthy diet, shelter and warmth, and help to get back on their feet.  I support comprehensive services for the elderly allowing them to remain in their homes.

I am pro-life in that I believe every person deserves access to a family doctor to assist in meeting health needs.  Everyone should have affordable health insurance.  Time magazine (9/29/08) reports “the chance that a woman will die in childbirth is 1 in 4,800 in the U.S.A; 1 in 8,200 in England; and 1 in 17,400 in Sweden” (50).  These statistics reflect the universal health care available in other countries.

I am pro-life because I support life with opportunities to get a sound education

that leads to reasoned decisions guided by faith, but informed by science, philosophy, history, and the arts.

I am pro-life because I support stem cell research that will, in the course of time, help to find cures for many incapacitating or terminal diseases.

I am pro-life because I support conservation of the environment, on which we depend for clean air and water.

I am pro-life because I believe that a woman has the responsibility to know her circumstances and determine, with her partner, doctor, and religious counsel, the course of her pregnancy.

Barack Obama supports this full spectrum of life and a “consistent ethic of life.”  He knew that the Iraq war was not a “just war” and has been consistently against it; he supports equal pay for equal work; he supports public education; and he supports the creation of an affordable health insurance program.  He promotes families with social programs and opportunities to reach their highest potential.  And, he advocates appropriate sex education to help reduce the incidence of unwanted pregnancies. 

Please join me in supporting Barack Obama and Joe Biden, truly pro-life candidates.

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