Letter to the Editor:

We all have been watching with boredom and disgust the political ads on TV. One in particular makes my stomach turn. The ad is in support of Planned Parenthood, opposing Joni Ernst. Sweet ladies sitting around the kitchen table converse about how awful it is that Joni Ernst would be against women.not allowing them to require their employers to pay for their contraception and not supporting “safe and legal” abortion.

First of all, why are “independent” women so dependent on someone else paying for their personal choice of birth control? Woman-up and pay for it yourself!

Secondly, abortion may be “legal,” but it certainly is not safe. Someone dies during each abortion. Someone helpless, defenseless, and alone. And the woman who walks away from having an abortion is greatly damaged herself. Many times physically, but most every time emotionally scarred for life.

According to Elliot Institute’s article, The Aftereffects of Abortion, the results of an abortion on a woman are significant. Temporary feelings of relief after having an abortion quickly become emotional paralysis or numbness.

Studies show that just a few weeks after an abortion, between 40 and 60 percent of women report negative reactions. Within 8 weeks, 55 percent express guilt, 44 percent complained of nervous disorders, 36 percent had sleep disturbances, 31 percent regret the decision to abort their baby, and 11 percent are prescribed psychotropic medications. Up to 33 percent of these women develop an intense desire to become pregnant again to “make up” for the lost pregnancy. The study shows that teenage abortion patients suffer the worst. Within 7 months after the abortion of those age 17 and younger, symptoms included: self-reproach, depression, social regression, withdrawal, obsession with the need to become pregnant again, and hasty marriages.

The most reported reactions of abortion in women of all ages are: depression, loss of self-esteem, self-destructive behaviors, sleep disorders, memory loss, chronic problems with relationships, personality changes, anxiety attacks, guilt, remorse, difficulty grieving, increased tendency toward violence, chronic crying, difficulty concentrating, flashbacks, and difficulty in bonding with children. 80 percent express feeling of self-hatred. 49 percent report drug abuse. 14 percent use alcohol to excess. 60 percent consider suicide. 28 percent attempt suicide at least once.

I think the facts are clear: abortion is not safe for anyone involved. My vote goes to those who understand these facts and are willing to stand for life. Not only the life of the unborn, but the lives of countless women who need comfort after they abort their children, and the truth given to them before they make that very wrong decision.

Mary Lyon

Rural Toledo