Letter to the Editor of THE NEW YORK TIMES
After reading Delaware Governor Jack A. Markell’s Op-Ed article in The New York Times on April 12th, I felt compelled to write a letter to the editor, which appears in the newspaper today, April 19th.
Here is the text of my letter:
To the Editor:
Re “Pregnancy and Prosperity,” by Jack A. Markell (Op-Ed, April 12):
Thanks to Governor Markell of Delaware for addressing how negative outcomes arise from unintended pregnancies and poor access to effective contraception. But this information is not new; our government has simply failed to listen to the needs of women.
For thousands of years, women (and men, too) have tried to control the size of their families and the spacing of their children. Oral tribal histories and ancient papyri show that reproductive control is a human need.
The United Nations has declared that reproductive rights are human rights. Yet despite this history and the high rate of unintended pregnancies and maternal mortality, the federal and state governments have neglected to provide adequate funding for good reproductive health care and sex education. Without these safeguards, women cannot chart the course of their lives.
Now, would Governor Markell kindly pass this information on to the other 49 governors and their state legislators?
VICKI ORANSKY WITTENSTEIN
Brooklyn
The writer is the author of “Reproductive Rights: Who Decides?”
