Editor’s note: this is in response to the column, “For Politicians, the Abortion Debate is about Power, not Morality,” published May 11, 2022.

May I share my thoughts with you? Yes, political debate is about power – is that a surprise to anyone? Politics involve the activities and social relations required to manage a governing body. Each participant in these activities is informed by a core ethos (morality) that influences how he or she perceives the major and minor questions of the day as they attempt to achieve desired goals.

What’s critical is not the fact that power is a necessary tool but that a set of values create the motivating force to achieve these goals. Power and morality are not mutually exclusive but are in fact mutually dependent in the process of representative governance. The process never involves a binary choice only, but rather a highly nuanced set.

For example, as we know, some people favor the right to abortion while others oppose it. Their highly complex and competing ethea motivates each group to seek the means (power) to achieve their goals. This is at the heart of the democratic process. It’s messy and painful and, oh yes, perfectly sublime. Our inimitable constitutional republic has had 246 years of success with this process. Let’s remember that the marvelous mechanisms of self governance are to be revered and protected even as we passionately, sometimes disrespectfully (or worse) debate the great issues of the day such as the one at hand.

Brian DiNielli

Enumclaw