To the editor:

It is disheartening to watch “lawmakers” in Kansas and the federal government every year laser-focused on eliminating a woman’s right to choose under the misnomer “pro-life.” Now they march to the drumbeat of a constitutional amendment in an August primary hoping fewer will show up to vote against it rather than in November. “Pro-life” advocates are more concerned with fetuses than with children who are already born. Republicans historically are not health care proponents, especially women’s reproductive health, which encompasses not only abortion but birth control and cancer and STD screening. Few “lawmakers” advocate for women’s equality in pay or workplace or protections from domestic and sexual abuse. Kansas is one of 12 states that have not expanded Medicaid; 200,000 people in Kansas are uninsured. “Lawmakers” have done nothing to ease the burden that both parents shoulder to take care of their children if they work outside the home. Women have the fundamental and legal rights to make their own choices regarding pregnancy that may or may not have been planned, without interference from government and legislators motivated to further their political careers by waving the pro-life banner. For those believing government is too intrusive, a woman’s womb is exactly where government has no right to be. Abortions have plummeted since the 1970s. Women are capable of making the right decision for themselves and their families without the help of government and partisan strangers who are not promoting the will of the majority but the minority to further their own ambitions.

Leslie J. Mills,

Lawrence