Role of ‘host’?
To the editor:
Has Phill Kline gone too far or too far astray?
Kline is trying to establish that in Kansas a fetus at any stage of development is a person with full legal rights. To make this point he downgrades the woman’s role in pregnancy to that of “host.” Don’t joke that the term should be “hostess.” No, he means “host” in the sense that some trees and animals are hosts to parasites that live off them. This analogy reduces the fetus to a parasite, undermining the person argument and demeaning women.
Mark your 2006 calendars now so you will be sure to remember to celebrate “Host Day” formerly known at “Mother’s Day.”
Barbara M. Duke,
Lawrence