Letters
Letters to the editor
Highlands Today
Published: January 28, 2013
Abortion fightPublished: January 28, 2013
Some thoughts to consider following the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in the United States:
Firstly, one must admit that the decision to have or forego an abortion is a truly vexing one to resolve for many pregnant women. Considerations of family pressures, social pressures, religion, costs, uncertainties, worries, loneliness, fears and many others are usually present in most of these cases.
Consider also that with the assistance of multi-billion dollar industries, including Planned Parenthood, actively encouraging, promoting and providing accessibility to abortion services, more than 55 million legal abortions have taken place in the U.S. since 1973.
Additionally consider that 1. The Hippocratic Oath — for thousands of years the standard for Western medical ethics — has, since the 1970s, eliminated the phrase, "I will not give a woman an abortive remedy" from most medical school commencement ceremonies; 2. The American Medical Association in 1871 called abortionist doctors "…false to honor humanity, God and their professions," yet in 1989, it called abortion a fundamental right; and 3. Planned Parenthood in 1963 stated, "An abortion kills the life of a baby after it has begun." Now it supports "abortion on demand."
There remains more than just a glimmer of hope in the pro-life position. That optimism lies in the fact that the truth is firmly entrenched within their core beliefs such as we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Truth is an absolute. It is not defined by "ifs" or "buts." It does not change with time.
It is endowed by our Creator and thus conforms to reality. Since such truth is firmly embedded in the pro-life position, it must inevitably win over an increased number of thoughtful, honorable persons, which, in turn, will eventually result in an increased awareness of the very real consequences associated with abortion on demand.
Ray Stebbins
Avon Park
Swamp Hammock
Gary Pinnell's Jan. 18 story on Swamp Hammock, the mud bog, fails to quote anyone who spoke against it at the planning and zoning hearing. He does manage to extensively quote the developer, Jeff Kennedy.
One critic who was not there is quoted. Pinnell did not attend the P&Z hearing and he doesn't know that only six of the seven commissioners were there when the vote was taken.
As president of the Highlands Audubon, I expressed concern that noise and traffic would disturb wildlife and livestock. Florida sandhill cranes are a threatened species protected by Florida law and they are easily disturbed.
In his presentation, Jeff Kennedy said that the neighbor's home will be an adequate distance from the mud bog pits. Why shouldn't the neighbors, the Skippers, be shielded from excessive noise all over their property and not just in their house? Kennedy's presentation doesn't give a distance to the home of the neighbors on the other side, the Johnsons.
When I lived in Ft. Lauderdale, I went to a zoning hearing. The chairman told a land speculator, "We're not here for your pocketbook." I'm not seeing this attitude in Highlands County. Planning and zoning seems to think that every request must be approved unless a critic can present overwhelming evidence against it.
At the P&Z hearing, commissioners told neighbors of Swamp Hammock that noise is just one of those things. The Florida Constitution, Article II, Section 7a: "It shall be the policy of the state to conserve and protect its natural resources and scenic beauty. Adequate provision shall be made by law for the abatement of air and water pollution and of excessive and unnecessary noise and for the conservation and protection of natural resources."
Does anyone on the P&Z board know that the Florida Constitution calls for the prevention and abatement of unneeded noise? Are the members of the county commission aware of this? Now that Swamp Hammock mud bog has been cleared by P&Z, it goes to the county commission, who will hopefully reject it.
Dale L. Gillis
Sebring