ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, May 20, 1996 TAG: 9605200129
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
I READ Ellen Goodman's May 7 column (``Pro-lifers' cruel campaign'') with interest and a bit of disbelief. She seems naive in her comments about how and when late-term abortions are considered.
My husband and I were confronted with this issue 10 years ago. Five different doctors pushed a late-term abortion at us, even though we told them we weren't interested. They tried scare tactics, telling us how terrible our child's life would be and how miserable our family would become if we allowed him to be born. They quoted statistics to strengthen their argument.
The fact that my child was born with birth defects cannot be denied. The fact that the doctors caused more emotional strain during my pregnancy by constantly pushing the negatives also cannot be denied.
My son is almost 10 years old. This child that doctors argued would be severely mentally retarded is reading at the sixth-grade level. He has such a mild case of spina bifida that it took eight years and an MRI scan to finally locate it. He's an extremely gifted and talented child, and I couldn't imagine this world without him.
Members of the medical community would like you to believe they have only noble intentions. They would like people to believe late-term abortions are only performed to save the mother's life. My life was never threatened during pregnancy, except by the doctors who constantly depressed me. I was told that I could change my mind "up to the day of delivery."
I couldn't imagine my life, my family, my world without my son. The doctors were wrong. If I had listened to them, think what I would be missing.
|TERESA LILLY |MARTINSVILLE
Black voters think|
for themselves|
I WAS astounded at the negativity expressed by Mac McCadden regarding Roanoke's black voters following the recent mayoral and councilmanic election (May 8 article, ``Black vote mixed for Bowers''). Has McCadden established himself as the ``great black father'' charged with chastising his children?
It's with resentment and anger that I take issue with him at the mere suggestion that black people are incapable of thinking for themselves, and must have someone to do it for them. Isn't that exactly what he's trying to do by telling us whom we should vote for? As a race, blacks have been subjected to ridicule and misconceptions from others from the beginning of time. Must we now be subjected to the same unwarranted comments from one of our own?
Lest I be a poor, uninformed black, I assume we still live in a democracy where freedom of choice is a guarantee. We know David Bowers doesn't have a good track record in the black community, and we also know nothing of Pat Green. It apparently came down to choosing the lesser of two evils. I suggest to McCadden that not only are blacks thinking, but we've also spoken. I also remind him that the Democratic ticket didn't win solely on the black vote.
Our forefathers fought and died in this country so that we could enjoy the right to vote, and the right to be a Democrat, Republican or anything else we choose to be. Does McCadden now feel so comfortable that he can afford to belittle others? Has he arrived only to have forgotten whence he came?
Clearly, he's angry that his party didn't win. May I suggest he take two aspirin and call his therapist in the morning. His were the most ludicrous remarks one black could level toward another. He need not be embarrassed for Roanoke. Roanoke is embarrassed for him.
|MICHELLE GAITHER |ROANOKE
It still makes sense|
to cut the fat|
THE MAY 2 Associated Press article, "Fat-free cuts out vitamin E," could have profited from more balance.
It's true vitamin E is emerging as a vitamin with real health benefits, and it's also true that obtaining a host of vitamins and minerals from a variety of foods seems to provide more benefit than eating a nutritionally deficient diet and then trying to correct this with large doses of vitamins and supplements. However, the problem with many food sources of vitamin E is that they're high in fat.
The greater consensus in the field of nutrition and health involves the association of higher levels of dietary fat with increased risk of heart disease, cancers and other diseases. Moreover, most health professionals are concerned with the increased prevalence of overweight and obesity in our country, primarily related to overconsumption - too many calories - and too little activity.
One easy way for people to reduce fat in their diets, and thus protect their health and lose weight, is to reduce, if not avoid, "add-on" fat from such foods as margarine, salad dressings and mayonnaise, even though such foods may contain small amounts of vitamin E. The minimal requirements for vitamin E may be better achieved by eating a lower-fat diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, plus perhaps a vitamin E supplement.
|RICHARD A. WINETT |BLACKSBURG
LENGTH: Medium: 93 linesby CNB