To the Editor:
Jack Lichtenstein [Letter, “Matter of Humanity”] takes to task my critique of Del. David Englin’s use of “baby” to describe a fetus. He hopes that “no amount of social engineering by big government and its enthusiasts will cause us … to check our humanity at the door.” But what could be a more egregious example of big-government social engineering than the legislature’s latest attempt to force an ultrasound wand into a woman’s womb —- which meet the FBI definition of rape — or to make her have an external ultrasound as a pre-condition of having an abortion because big government does not trust her to make medical decisions for herself?!
We have clergy, educators and artists to further our humanity, whereas we have legislators to protect our sacred liberty. Because some distraught couples experiencing a miscarriage might momentarily misuse the term “baby” to refer to their lost fetus does not mean they or we would regard that fetus as a baby in the same sense as one who succumbs to SIDS which, because this is truly a baby, losing the child is far more traumatic to his/her parents.
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. And so long as the “personhood” bill lurks in our legislature, we need be vigilant about the distinction between a baby and a fetus.
Dino Drudi
Alexandria