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I was appalled by George F. Will's column "Golly, what did Jon do?"

If the author wants to destigmatize people with Down Syndrome, he should do so by speaking out about the fact that his son has a perfectly happy life and that having a child with Down syndrome isn't such a bad thing and leave his personal war on abortion out of it. Women have a right to bodily domain that doesn't go away when they become pregnant. I fail to see how forcing women into the hands of backalley doctors instead of giving them a safe abortion is "pro-life."

What makes the author assume that all testing for Down syndrome in fetuses is "search and destroy"? Perhaps these people would like to know about any complications ahead of time so that they might be able to better cope with their child's disability? Or perhaps the ones who do decide to abort simply do so because they aren't ready to care for a child with special needs and want to spare it a life of suffering. Quality of life is vastly more important than quality.

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My letter to the editor. Edit, send, or just forget the whole thing?

This article was extremely eye-opening and informative, although not in the way the author intended.

It served as a chilling reminder to women that their right to bodily domain (control over all decisions regarding what happens to their own body, based on the fact that it is theirs and not the property of the state or any human being other than them), while still legally protected, is under vicious assault. Antiabortion protestors have shut down clinics, a few individuals who believe that a fetus is sacred and a doctor a moving target have murdered for their cause, while still others have threatened and terrorized clinic workers out of practice. The demonization of women who have abortions and the perpetuation of medically unsound myths have strengthened the “pro-life” cause. Legislation to illegalize and restrict abortion (including the South Dakota ban and the recent props 73 and 85, which aimed to place pregnant teens at the mercy of their potentially-abusive parents) has come up all over the country. Indeed, the threat to women’s reproductive freedom is greater than ever.

This article reminded me that Roe vs. Wade was a huge step forward for me and other women, and that I will still have to fight all my life to defend my basic human rights because some people still believe that I have no right to remove a zygote from my body. I was reminded that people would still rather have women die from a coathanger or the hand of backalley amateur "surgeons" than be able to terminate my pregnancy safely and legally. I hope these figures inspire more young women and men to celebrate and defend the right to choose. Thank you for reminding me why I celebrate every January 22nd.