ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 23, 1996 TAG: 9606240119
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
IN HER June 11 commentary, ``Try to feel a pre-born baby's pain,'' Anne Lavery criticizes President Clinton for vetoing a bill that would have banned a late-term abortion procedure she calls ``partial-birth abortions.'' She goes on at length about the ``risks and possible complications of abortion to women.''
In truth, the late-term abortion procedure she opposes is designed to protect women whose pregnancies have gone horribly wrong. Either the fetus suffers severe deformities that are incompatible with life or the woman faces hemorrhaging, infertility or death if she continues with the pregnancy.
Though the procedure she describes is difficult to imagine, the alternatives are just as devastating. Imagine forcing a woman to carry a dead or deteriorating fetus, or forcing a woman to have a Caesarian section instead. What opponents to this procedure don't say is that a C-section doesn't work in these circumstances because the uterine wall is too dense until the very end of pregnancy. The woman could bleed to death during surgery.
When real families with wanted pregnancies face tragic circumstances, government interference is the last thing they need. Such decisions should be made by a woman with her family, her physician and her God.
TERRY T. SMITH
ROANOKE
An expensive ride to the hospital
REGARDING TINA Byrd's June 12 letter to the editor, ``The high price of emergencies,'' complaining about an Emergency Medical Service transport charge of $200:
I'd like to add my complaint about $389 for a five-mile ride, and they didn't use the siren.
If I could have stood up, I could have driven myself to the emergency room. If I could have seen just one of anything, I could have dialed my daughter's number instead of finding the zero and asking the operator to dial her. If I hadn't been vomiting and dizzy all night, I wouldn't have needed anyone. I spent five days in the hospital, not able to get up except with the help of a nurse on each side of me. I now walk with a four-legged cane for balance.
In the future, I think it would be less costly to call U-Haul or a cab.
Twice I've asked officials of the city's Emergency Medical Services to rebill Medicare. Medicare says the claim didn't show a need for those services.
WANDA E. MARTIN
ROANOKE
Air tragedy is no laughing matter
IN RESPONSE to Beth Macy's June 13 column, ``Coping jokes, not sick jokes'':
Webster's dictionary defines sick as ``nauseated by strong emotion.'' Well, my stomach turned inside out as I glanced at the opening ``joke.'' As a family member of a victim in the 1994 USAir crash in Pittsburgh, I can assure Macy that I didn't chuckle - nor perhaps would any family member of the recent ValuJet accident.
If she thinks her readers are far enough removed from the tragedies mentioned to find a good laugh, think again. At least one victim of the ValuJet crash was from Lynchburg, and I hope for their sake that the victim's family members do not subscribe to The Roanoke Times.
Your job as a newspaper is to report pertinent issues to the community for its benefit and knowledge. If Macy has nothing more important to write about than distasteful jokes about tragedy, I suggest as a service to her readers that she put down her pen.
ELLEN JAMISON
SALEM
State bites again at gambling's bait
I READ your June 12 news article (``Virginia to play `Game''') about the latest plans of the Virginia Lottery. While many of us remember the yet-to-be-fulfilled 10-year-old promises of direct benefits from the lottery to libraries and education, the new "game" will unfortunately be just another few drops in the state's general-fund bucket.
Even more distressing is the thought that as lottery proceeds increase from this and other games and gambling becomes a significant source of income for the commonwealth, basic services such as law enforcement, education and transportation will become dependent.
I hope we will not soon begin to see the restrictions on lottery advertising lifted in the interest of financial security for the state. In this era of increased economic pressure on individuals, let us seriously consider the message of this public institution: You, too, can get something for nothing.
MARTIN JANSONS
BLACKSBURG
Local minister took the lead
YOUR JUNE 16 article (``Methodists aid minorities'') about the 214th session of the Virginia annual conference of the United Methodist Church, held June 13-16 in Virginia Beach, is appreciated.
The article referred to a motion from the floor to add $20,000 to the 1997 budget in order that Virginia State University in Petersburg might have a full-time campus-ministry program. The article included comments from some responding to the motion, but neglected to state that the motion was made by Dr. Alton M. Washington, pastor of Huntington Court United Methodist Church in Roanoke. This is a pattern for Dr. Washington - seeing a need and helping to guide our church to do something about it.
MARY K. PULLIAM
Delegate, Virginia Annual ConferenceLENGTH: Long : 105 lines
by CNB