To the editor:

There is a great deal of controversy as to when life actually begins, but I do not see how any logically thinking person can believe that late-term or partial birth abortions do not terminate the life of a viable human being.

We now have a new health secretary and president whose positions on this issue are very clear, yet they seem to believe that it is somehow cruel and unusual punishment to waterboard or put a bug in a box with the known mastermind behind the horrific 9/11 attack.

What about the 2,000 innocent people who were murdered on that day and the mental torture and anguish their loved ones must live with every day as the result of this madman’s actions? I wonder what tactics might be acceptable to the citizens of Lawrence if a plot to impose Sharia law (ironically defined by Wikipedia as: “path to the water source”) were uncovered in our fair city as was recently done in the Swat valley of northern Pakistan where the Taliban shot dead a man and woman accused of having an affair. Given the option I can only guess that they might have opted for the bug and waterboard treatment instead.

President Obama has expressed great concern about what message we might be sending to the rest of the world. They now know that killers of innocent men, women and children will not be treated unkindly under his watch.

Welcome to America, Mr. Khalid Sheik Mohammed.