Morning-after pill is humane choice

In 1925, while stationed with the Imperial Police Force in Burma, writer George Orwell was expected to shoot a rogue elephant: “I did not want to shoot the elephant. I watched him beating his bunch of grass against his knees, with that preoccupied grandmotherly air that elephants have. It seemed to me that it would be murder to shoot him. At that age I was not squeamish about killing animals, but I had never shot an elephant and never wanted to. (Somehow it always seems worse to kill a large animal.)”

With all the talk about vaginal ultrasounds, I decided to search the Net for images of a 20-week fetus. I am pro-choice, but I would not be able to abort what I saw. I backtracked to 18 weeks, 16, 14, 12 and became a fan of the morning-after pill.

I hope Iowa will not go the way of Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, Kansas, Mississippi and Wisconsin by restricting access to emergency contraception as well as safe and legal abortions. The closing of clinics and the probing of pregnancies with ultrasounds is intended to make a woman “think twice.” Emergency contraception, aka Plan B or the morning-after pill, which prevents a fertilized egg from attaching to the wall of the uterus, also prevents the Orwellian nightmare of aborting something with eyelids, fingerprints and the ability to suck its thumb (20 weeks).

No woman wants to make that choice, given safe and affordable alternatives.

Jane Purcell

West Branch