Editor:
Although I disagree with Shelley Cormier's opinion on abortion, I am not writing this article to disagree with her view on the issue itself, perpetuating the heated discussion that we've seen since John Keisling's original column. I am instead responding to what I feel is a gross generalization made by her letter ("Abortion, murder should not be compared," Sept. 15).
The simple fact is, Shelley's "pro-choice" beliefs and my own "pro-life" beliefs are a fundamental difference of opinion Ÿ that much I fully respect. My problem starts when she states why I, as well as other people (men and women alike) who are antiabortion hold that opinion. She is saying that the opinion that "abortion is murder" is not really an opinion at all, but rather a "manipulative ploy used by a patriarchal society to appeal to the sensitivities of women and control them." Please. Ms. Cormier needs to be careful when attempting to state the foundations of belief of an entire society in one sentence.
My point is, the "pro-life" opinion is just that Ÿ an opinion. Women beware! Here we come as those damn, dominating oppressive males, looking for nothing else but to control women Ÿ it's not only our ploy, it's our obsession.
Maybe I'm completely off base here, but if there's some "ploy" out there, then I guess Ÿ being that I am the oppressive male of the scenario with no other motivations to my actions/beliefs except to manipulate women by "appealing to their sensitivities" Ÿ I'm supposed to feel left out, right?
I leave this as my final thought (see if you can see the correlation here): "The concept that abortion is a woman's right to choose is merely a manipulative ploy used by a radical feminist movement to eventually create an Amazonian society and systematically eliminate all male decisions in government." The only other statement I know to be more pathetically general, stereotypical and completely ignorant is the one written by Ms. Cormier herself.
Chad McNichol
Chemical Engineering Sophomore