To the Editor:

I have a few issues with the letter "Prohibiting Abortion Does Not Stop It From Happening Unsafely" (NorthCountryNow.com letter, Jan. 18). Mr. Farnsworth said "Criminalization of abortion did not reduce the numbers of women who sought abortions." There is no way to know that. I would venture to guess, however, that it is untrue, as surely some women refrained from considering abortion, as it was illegal. There are some of us who will not do a thing if it is against the law, if only for the protection of our own personal freedom.

He goes on to say that "Although accurate records could not be kept, it is known that between the 1880s and 1973, many thousands of women were harmed as a result of illegal abortion." I would point out that those abortions were harmful to 100% of all unborn children involved.

With this statement of his, I have no problem: "The rate of reported abortions then began to decline, partly because doctors faced increased scrutiny from their peers and hospital administrators concerned about the legality."

Doctors should not perform illegal acts, just like the rest of us should not. This would be in accordance with my first point, that illegality is a deterrent to people who seek to live under rule of law.

His use of the term "anti-abortion extremists" is incendiary, and inaccurate. Extremism is, by definition, belief and action found in a small segment of the population, and at one end of the spectrum. We pro-life people do not fit that definition, if only by our numbers. Very few of us advocate our point with violent methods. From the viewpoint of the unborn child, ALL of the anti-life / pro-abortion group advocate violence, in the violent death of the fetus. They are, from the often-unconsidered viewpoint of the as-yet unborn, an extremely violent group.

We in the pro-life movement will work for the day when people take responsibility for the outcome of their sexuality, and no child is conceived who is not then loved for his/her full, natural life. That doesn't sound like such an ugly agenda to me.

Pastor Dennis Lowe

Buck's Bridge Community Church