Imagine a land where homeless people are not considered real people since they are not living in a house, and therefore it’s alright to burn down homes that they otherwise might have lived in and to leave them out in the cold to die. In a sense, this is what could happen when a woman takes birth control pills, the “morning-after pill, Norplant, the IUD, or Depo-Provera. 

Life begins at conception, and while the “Pill” does often prevent ovulation, it sometimes does not. In those cases, the five- to seven-day-old baby cannot find her “home” in the uterus because the chemicals in the Pill change the uterine lining and make her “home” hostile to her. Some of you already knew that and some of you didn’t.

But did you know that the Federal Department of Health and Human Services proposed that all insurance plans cover the entire cost of prescription birth control pills, including abortion drugs such as Ella and Plan B, with no co-pays?

The HHS-recommended exception is so narrow that thousands of Christian missions, hospitals, crisis pregnancy centers, and relief agencies that serve all comers, will not be considered in the exception and be forced to go against their consciences or close.

This proposal from the Obama administration will become a mandate at the end of September unless public protest changes this path down the slippery slope. Quoting Cardinal Daniel Dinardo, “Pregnancy is not a disease and children are not a ‘health problem’ – they are the next generation of Americans.” I urge you to call or write your congressman and protest.

Sincerely,

Diane Strippel

New Martinsville