Dear Editor,
I would like to write to clarify something that was reported in the paper after the election. Reporter Matthew Strother got it wrong when he reported that Georgia voters supported an amendment to the state constitution stating that life starts at conception and outlawing abortion.
This was not a statewide referendum but rather a question asked only on the Republican ballot. It is completely erroneous to report it otherwise. Personhood initiatives have failed in states around the country and no more emphatically than in our neighboring state of Mississippi.
These initiatives are out of step with the wishes of most, could cost the state dearly in legal costs and are a poor use of energy. We should all be working to improve access to preventive health care like birth control instead of finding new ways to deny women access to their basic health care rights.
There has been an all out assault on women’s rights this year in the legislature and it is a trend that I fear this misguided question, not referendum, only seeks to continue.
Chris Sloan
LaGrange







Just FYI a pregnancy is an issue which is very easy to prevent. Now unlike you I view this life as delicate and precious. It's not a womans right to give and take this life on a whim. And until those unborn are given a chance and choice it is the democrats who have advanced the war on women. The true rights of life that are being denied these go against everything America was built on.
If you believe that unborn children have no rights, then say so. Don't obfuscate with platitudinous references to "women's health care".
The "personhood" initiatives are NOT about "womens rights", they are about the rights of unborn children.
Except in very rare instances, the termination of a pregnancy has nothing to do with "health care". Pregnancy is not a disease. If you believe that abortion is an acceptable form of birth control, then SAY SO, but don't call it health care. Because, if I might be permitted a redundancy, pregnancy is not a disease or a health problem. It is the beginning of a new human life.
Tom Weeks