
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 24, 1993                   TAG: 9307260307
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

REAL MEN DON'T DOMINATE THEIR WIVES

I AM saddened! Linnea McDonald's July 16 letter to the editor ("Please, no more unwanted children") was filled with both false and stereotypical statements. I am certainly pro-life; I have no choice. My biology courses taught me enough about human development to know that the fetus is both living and human, 46 unique chromosomes, a beating heart and a functioning brain speak for themselves.

Most pro-life people have a much broader perspective than McDonald would suggest. Most are greatly concerned about abuse of children in all of its many cruel facets. But we are also concerned about the ultimate abuse of the fetus through its forceful removal from the womb. The instances of child abuse since abortion has been legalized have not decreased but sadly increased.

My wife is in her seventh month of pregnancy. Our child was conceived out of love between two people, not out of a desire for male domination. My wife is now experiencing the greatest fulfillment of her womanhood. I'm sorry if others' experiences weren't the same. A man whose desire in pregnancy is to dominate his wife is not a man at all, and he doesn't know what it means to love his wife. JAMES L. RIEFLIN ROANOKE

by CNB