To the editor:

I hope my letters to the editor generally demonstrate civility, respect for those who disagree with me, and sometimes a touch of humor.

However, lately an argument has been printed that is so breathtakingly irrelevant it is hard to come up with a good reply. The argument is that because there are a great many abortions, we ought not work against deaths in war.

Let us suppose that all abortions are evil, and even that every abortion is worse than every death of a born child or adult, no matter what hunger, agony, or terror that born person experiences in dying.

Are we, nevertheless, wrong to protest against that lesser evil?

We don’t say shoplifting a few trinkets is OK because others steal huge amounts; slapping someone around is not excused because others commit rape and murder.

We know that the president’s policies have led to the death and maiming of thousands of born people.

The National Right to Life Committee, while arguing that abortions did not increase during Mr. Bush’s time in office, could not support a claim that abortions have decreased during his tenure.

Anne L. Haehl,

Lawrence