Christy Goble writes, "When a woman has an abortion, the doctor rips apart the fetus and lays each part on a table to make sure that he has extracted the entire body." I would like to know where this misinformation came from.

According to the National Abortion Federation, a professional association of doctors and other health care professionals who provide abortion services, there are two forms of abortion: surgical and medical. Surgical abortion is a mild suction that removes the placenta, uterine lining and early fetus. Medical abortion is the administration of medication by a physician in order to end a pregnancy. Fifty-eight percent of abortions occur within the first eight weeks of pregnancy and 88 percent occur by the end of the first trimester, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Abortion is a very safe medical procedure, with less than 1 percent of all abortion cases involving serious complications. It is illegal for abortion providers to perform an abortion during the later half of the second trimester, especially since the Bush administration has banned late-term abortion (which, by the way, had been legal only if the life of the mother or soon-to-be child was threatened). In addition, there is no scientific evidence that women who have abortions have long-term psychological effects, according to the Institute of Medicine. Abortion is a medical procedure that is vital to women's and families' lives and needs to be protected. Hopefully this factual information will be noticed and taken seriously.

Kelley Brooks
elementary education sophomore

Wildcat also tells story of student volunteers

This is in response to Annie Feld's letter in yesterday's Wildcat. It seems as if Ms. Feld was so disturbed by the photograph of students partying in Mexico that she managed to overlook the front page story on students who were helping to make a difference in people's lives.

David Sonenschein
engineering mathematics junior

Bush couldn't teach college kids Îmanners'

In yesterday's edition of the Wildcat, Annie Feld states that she's glad President Bush isn't coming to the UA to speak, because our student body's partying is an embarrassment to our country. Additionally, she states that President Bush could teach us some manners. Are we talking about the same Bush here? Our president earned, at best, mediocre grades in college, admits that he's a former alcoholic, was arrested for drunk driving and refuses to address his past cocaine and marijuana use. His two daughters have gained notoriety for their underage drinking escapades. Somehow, Ms. Feld seems to think that President Bush is a stellar example of a studious, well-behaved college student. What kind of manners is Bush qualified to teach college students about partying? That we should say, "PLEASE pass the bong"?

Sarah Hartwell
ecology and evolutionary biology senior

Distinctions not so easily made in Mideast

After reading Kris Brown's neat division between good Jews who don't have a Zionist thought in their heads and the bad Jews who apparently do ("Zionism inherently just Îracist' colonialism"), I'm wondering if any letters protesting the law barring non-Muslims from entering Mecca will be on their way. I mean, after all, we should be upbraiding all forms of discrimination and racism, right?

Just thought I'd ask.

Yisrael Espinoza
UA alumnus

Hamas organization doesn't promote peace

This letter is in response Mr. Navabi's letter that appeared in the Wildcat Tuesday, provoked by an article about an anti-terrorism resolution by the ASUA that included Israel. In his letter he states the recent assassination of Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin is designed to disrupt the peace process. I would like to counter his claims because his statements present what all letters do, one side of the issue.

First of all, Hamas isn't in peace negotiations with anybody, let alone Israel. The stated purpose of the organization is to destroy Israel and replace it with an Islamic government while kicking out or killing all the Jews. Second, the peace process is dormant because of the attacks by groups like Hamas and the PLO, the organization that Israel is trying to make peace with.

Mr. Navabi claims that Zionism is bigoted and his proof is that Jewish liturgy describes Israel as the Jewish homeland and the implementation of this is terrorizing those who don't agree with this interpretation. It seems that Mr. Navabi's view is not too different from that of Ahmed Yassin, except Mr. Navabi hasn't told us what we should do with the "bigoted" state of Israel.

Avi Margolin
political science sophomore

Columnist disrespectful to American voters

Brett Berry's March 9 column regarding Bush's current ad campaign involving Sept. 11 images is an insult to American people and the democratic process. By stating that, "Sept. 11 was the best thing that could have happened to Bush," he is being boldly disrespectful of American voters. He implies that the only reason for Bush's anticipated dominance in the upcoming election is due to Sept. 11. This indirectly states that Americans are mindless people incapable of formulating their own opinions without being easily swayed by a single event. I find this personally insulting and I believe the exact opposite: Americans are among the most intelligent people on the planet, and when they chose their president through the democratic process, they are selecting the man most capable for the job. The voters are expressing their desire for Bush to remain in office because of the fact that he is the best candidate, not because terrorists decided to blow up buildings. Berry chooses to take every criticism of President Bush and exploit it to perpetuate his liberal propaganda because a Republican is in the White House and will remain there for four more years. Sorry Brett, maybe your party will produce an adequate candidate in 2008 and we can look forward to your whining taking a four-year vacation.

Nick Taylor
pre-business sophomore