To the editor:

In response to Diane Hoffmann, the pro-life advocate who wrote her movement would not be silenced, I do not pretend to speak for the entire movement but as one pro-choice advocate, I can assure you I do not ask you to be silent. Just as the 14th Amendment protects a woman’s right to privacy in determining her reproductive options, so does the 1st Amendment protect both your right to “freedom of speech” and “the right of the people to PEACEFULLY assemble” (emphasis added).

What I do ask, however, is that your movement understand you do not have a monopoly on civil rights. When your movement resorts to stalking, harassment, intimidation, trespassing, vandalism, bombings, assault and, yes, murder, you have abused your rights.

My parents taught me that with privilege comes responsibility. While it is common in America for people to know each and every right they have been given, it is rarer for people to understand that those rights come with responsibilities. As Americans we are not required to agree with how each citizen chooses to exercise his/her constitutionally protected rights. However, in demanding the freedom to exercise those rights ourselves, we must have the courage to trust others with those same rights. Using the above scare tactics to intimidate others in an attempt to deny them their constitutional rights is cowardly and shows a basic misunderstanding of and disrespect for our Constitution, our Bill of Rights and our country.