To the editor:

I am really ticked off. It turns out our state legislators and officials have been lying to us all these years about their views concerning teen pregnancy. They want more of it, not less — more young lives interrupted, more babies born into often desperate circumstances with an uncertain future. Hard to believe?

In a case brought by Missouri, officials in Missouri, Kansas and Idaho are trying to convince the U.S. Supreme Court that teen pregnancies bring more money to states by increasing population and increasing the number of representatives the state can send to Washington.

They have the gall to insist that if teen pregnancy is reduced, it will cause “diminishment of political representation and loss of federal funds.”

The case centers around Mifepristone. They want the abortion drug Mifepristone to be so difficult to acquire that young women won’t have access to it — and will be forced to give birth to babies they aren’t prepared to care for. These officials say the drug is dangerous. But they know that’s not true. The FDA insists the drug is safe. It’s been on the market nearly 30 years. The officials say if it stays on the market, it will hurt their efforts to impose abortion bans. Oh, so that’s it. It’s all about banning abortion.

They’ve either been lying to us for decades, or they’re lying now to the U.S. Supreme Court. Perhaps both.

Susan Pogany,

Lawrence