TO THE EDITOR:
My name is Marlyn and I am a resident of Providence who is very concerned about the current Reproductive Health Care Act bills under consideration on Smith Hill. As a 27-year-old Hispanic-American woman, I am begging the legislators to stop for a moment and search their conscience before casting their vote on either of the bills.
Loosening our state’s restrictions on abortion would inevitably lead to more abortions in Rhode Island, including late-term abortions on children that could survive outside the womb. Please do not allow the blood of so many children to fall on your hands; do not allow their blood to fall on our hands. Do not be fooled. This issue is not a women’s rights issue, nor does it have anything to do with health care. True health care wounds only with the intention of healing. A good doctor cuts their patient open in order to heal something inside of them. This is not what abortion does. Abortion is not about health care, it is about personal convenience and organizations working to exploit moments of vulnerability in the lives of women.
If you truly want to help women, then I implore you to find a way to do that which does not involve helping women to be at war with their bodies, because warring with your body is surely not a way to peace.
Marlyn Batista, Providence
