Thursday, February 19, 2009
Guttmacher abortion statistic was misinterpreted
Letters to the Editor
Recent letters to the editor
- Pick of the day: Teacher's conviction should scare parents
- Letters: Payroll tax holiday is no such thing
- Pick of the day: Let families pick from school offerings
- Letters archive
From the RoundTable blog
Read the latest entries
Guttmacher abortion statistic was misinterpreted
Leigh Ann Roman misuses a Guttmacher Institute statistic -- that half of women having abortions used contraception in the month they became pregnant -- to support her claim that birth control is ineffective in preventing unintended pregnancies and abortion ("Consequences for a contraceptive culture," Feb. 6 commentary). This is a fundamental misinterpretation.
Only about 10 percent of all women at risk of unwanted pregnancy do not use birth control, yet they account for almost half of all abortions because they have very high rates of unintended pregnancy. The other 90 percent of women who do use contraception are significantly less likely to experience an unintended pregnancy. They account for the remaining abortions simply because there are so many more of them.
Roman derides "our culture's contraceptive mentality," but in reality, Americans understand the value and benefits of birth control and overwhelmingly support access to it and use it: 98 percent of sexually active Americans have used contraception at some point in their lives. Access to birth control allows women and men to make responsible decisions about when to become parents, benefiting both them and their children.
Director of Domestic Research Guttmacher Institute
Reshuffle shuffled sections
I, for one, would appreciate it if you would put the Business and Sports sections back together. The classifieds seem to fit better with the Extra section.
Country needs the Fair Tax
I am very poor, but I am totally against government wasteful spending. That is why I am against the so-called stimulus pack of pork. The tax cuts for real taxpayers are fine and will stimulate the economy, but most, if not all, of the rest of it is purely pork.
If you really want to stimulate the economy, create new jobs and bring back jobs that have left our shores, enact the Fair Tax (legislation H.R. 25). Go to www.FairTax.org or www.RoanokeAreaFairTax.com for more information.
Tax cigarettes, not essentials
Pauline Y. Inman's suggestion to "add a penny to the state sales tax that all have to pay" is absurd ("Don't raise cigarette tax," Feb. 10 letter). Taxes should be increased on items that are not essentials, such as cigarettes and alcohol, and not increased on items such as food, toiletries and anything that is required in life just to survive.
Gas taxes should not be increased due to the fact that we all need to have a car for work, school, medical appointments, etc.
And cigarettes aren't going to be outlawed, just restricted where the smoke from them affects others. Those people might light up as much as they want at home, and they can also pay more taxes to do that.
Maybe Inman would like to pay more for milk, bread and basic essentials, but I need what little money I have just to survive. And I survive by not smoking cigarettes.
Public owns Explore; share the plan
Peter Vieth, a member of the board for Explore Park, wrote that "progress has been made" in plans to redevelop the now-closed park ("Explore's plan is worth the wait," Feb. 8 commentary). If so, why has this progress not been revealed? And why have the developer and the board refused to answer two basic questions over the past four years: What is Larry Vander Maten planning for the park? Who will finance this redevelopment?
Vieth said plans had been kept secret to "prevent cheap imitations." What does that mean? That if some developer had seen Vander Maten's $250 million plan he would have quickly built a $100 million imitation in Bristol or Lynchburg? Hardly. Explore lost money here; why would Vander Maten's secret and unfinanced scheme do any better?
Explore Park is the property of the people of Virginia. It is not the property of the Explore Park board nor the playground for a private developer. Full details of Vander Maten's plan should be revealed today. If it fits with the mission of the park, it should be approved. If it does not, then the board should ask the people of Virginia, "What would you like done with your park?"
The theft occurred before Obama
I heard Sen. John McCain refer to the new stimulus package as "generational theft." I have given some thought to this latest sound bite of his and come up with my own definition.
Generational theft is the loss of thousands of American military lives in a futile and unwinnable war. It is the permanent disability and loss of lifestyle of thousands more American military. It is the willingness to bail out Wall Street fat cats (who then proceed to pay themselves unthinkable bonuses) who are largely responsible for the current mess we face.
Generational theft is the refusal to assist working- and middle-class American families who are facing the loss of jobs and homes because of those same unscrupulous Wall Street fat cats.
The stimulus package is not generational theft. That was perpetrated by the Bush administration over the last eight years. (When Bush took office, there was no deficit, remember?) What President Obama proposes are intelligent, compassionate and practical solutions to the unfathomable mess created by his predecessors.
City sheriff needs to be replaced
That's right. I had forgotten that it is time to elect a new sheriff this year. Emphasize the word new. Roanoke Sheriff Octavia Johnson has fulfilled her dream of being in office, but as far as I can tell the only thing she's gotten accomplished is painting the inside of the jail.
The Sheriff's Department is slowly falling apart and nothing is being done to fix it. Not to mention the monetary waste. You have some people being paid big money and they hardly do anything for it. Fifty-thousand dollars a year just to take pictures? Come on.
Things need to be fixed and someone who's spent five years in the DARE program isn't the one to do it ("Deputy Frank Garrett says he will seek post," Feb. 12). Frank Garrett has never spent any time working in the jail or in the civil process section. Those are probably the two most important areas that the Sheriff's Department has to deal with.
There has to be someone out there with enough experience and common sense to fix and run things the right way.
Autism therapy should be covered
As a parent of a child on the autism spectrum, I was present at the General Assembly in Richmond representing the families from Southwest Virginia along with hundreds of other parents from Virginia. Many people are unaware that autism is a treatable (not curable), lifelong, neurobiological disorder that is diagnosed by a medical doctor.
Autism affects more than 7,000 students in Virginia alone. One in 150 children is affected by autism. Health insurance companies do not cover treatments and therapies for these children, even though this is a medical disorder. The autism "spectrum" means from severe to high functioning.
Eight states have comprehensive autism insurance coverage. Our elected officials in the House and Senate have decided to turn a deaf ear to the needs of the thousands of families affected by the devastating out-of-pocket cost to get their children progressive therapies such as occupational, physical and speech therapy, not to mention applied behavioral analysis, a therapy that is proven to be extremely successful. Early intervention is the key to the success of these children.
The Senate may have killed this bill. However, we as parents will not give up. Failure is not an option.
