Thanks again for printing my views along with others which are completely the opposite. Case in point, I’ve expressed my opinion that innocent human life should be protected. Larry Benson seems to disagree, so long as that life has not been given birth. In your April 2 edition Mr. Benson (“If govt. controls abortion, it should also hold men accountable”) was quoted accusing me of a “stance against abortion and a woman’s right to control her own body”. I have tried to make it clear in previous letters that I think that a woman has every right to control her own body. It’s the life of the child developing within her that is in the need of protection and for those who may have missed my contention that foregoing sex until you’re married would eliminate the vast majority of unplanned pregnancies; I will state that old fashioned concept again here.

Mr. Benson, on the other hand, proposed two alternative solutions to family planning.

“We could make the male responsible for the baby upon conception, ergo, paying for all of the medical bills and care of the mother during the nine months of this process…” If the pregnancy was the product of a rape, this would seem fair enough to me. But if the woman was a willing participant, it would seem to me that both parties should be willing to share the cost. We have child support laws to see to it that the father supports the child financially upon delivery.

Mr. Benson’s then wrote, “Here’s an even better idea: let’s make it a law that every male child gets tested for (I think he meant from) the moment he has viable sperm and when he does, we require him to have a vasectomy, therefore eliminating any possibility of any unwanted pregnancies.”

Brilliant! And I thought this was the guy that was into the “my body, my choice” movement.

If Mr. Benson was in the least bit trying to be serious, then I think his letter exposed the absurdity of the arguments that the abortion on demand folks espouse. If he was trying to be funny, I’d say, “Take it for what it’s worth”.

Early on in Mr. Benson’s letter he claimed that he would agree that all life is precious. If that is the truth, I really don’t understand why he and all other abortion activists fight so hard to make sure that it can be snuffed out before the little girl or boy has the chance to take her, or his, first breath. Part of why I am attempting to influence folks to the pro-life way of thinking is that I love little babies, and toddlers and kids in general. In fact, I think life outside of the womb, regardless of its downsides, is worth living. Maybe someday Mr. Benson will see the light. I just hope more women decide to let the baby inside of them see the light of day.

Mark Akers

Enumclaw