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Letter: What being pro-life means to me

Letter to the editor

I have been asked to consider whether a Democratic woman can be pro-life? My answer is, yes, of course. Being pro-life applies to many issues other than a woman’s right to control her body.

Simply put, I trust women. I trust women to make compassionate, thoughtful, contemplative decisions about what is in the best interests for themselves and their families. I also support clean air and water along with national and state parks and the agencies that keep them so, because these are essential elements and spaces that are pro-life.

Education promotes life. Public education and access to the internet are critical for all citizens because education really does unlock doors which creates self-reliance and improves self-esteem. And, when those students graduate, paying a fair wage for services rendered, whatever that fair wage is, must be equal for all because fairness and justice promote life.

Another pro-life essential is affordable and accessible healthcare, including coverage for pre-existing conditions, for all Americans because health care should be a right in the wealthiest country in the world, not a privilege. Americans do and should continue to have the right to marry whomever they choose because that freedom promotes happiness in life.

Additionally, a well-maintained national infrastructure promotes life. Our infrastructure connected the country, improved our safety and strengthened our commerce which in turn jettisoned America globally. (By the way, one of the reasons given for the construction of the Harmony Way Bridge in the early 1930’s was to address the potential need to move troops due to the rising tensions in Europe.) Now, our infrastructure is in serious need of attention.

Finally, the current national policy on our southern border resulting in children being separated from their parents for months and maybe forever is not pro-life.

For these reasons and many more, I am a member of the Democratic Party. I will be voting for those candidates who support the ideals, goals and institutions that I do, in other words, those candidates who represent me!

This is why I will be voting for Dr. Edith Hardcastle for Indiana State Senator District 49. She is a woman who has a keen devotion to education, the environment and healthcare. We need Edie’s competence and leadership in Indianapolis.

There can be little doubt that the national trend is to turn major decisions, such as those listed above, back to the individual states, which is why this 2018 mid-term election may be the most important and far-reaching election in our lifetimes. I encourage my fellow Hoosiers to learn about Dr. Edith Hardcastle and those issues for which she stands. 

If you do this, I believe you will join me and many others who are supporting and voting for Edie Hardcastle in November.

- Jeanne G. Maudlin