Ted Reisig’s letter last week was so egregious I had to respond.

Ted stated that the important question to ask in the abortion debate is “at what time does a human being become life?” I believe what matters is when life becomes human. Ted said “life begins at conception since, shortly after, a heartbeat can be heard.” What? That’s all you need to be human – a heartbeat? Brain-dead people have heartbeats. Lizards have heartbeats.

At the moment of conception there’s only a single cell known as a zygote; then a small ball of cells the size of a poppy seed by the fourth week. By week fivethe cells resemble a tadpole. These cells don’t become a fetus until week nine. After 10 weeks only 90 percent of the fetus’ anatomical structure has been formed and internal organs will continue developing during the second and third trimester. This may be life but not yet human or viable.

I raised a child who was so malformed (Microcephaly, a cyst instead of much of his brain, hydrocephalic requiring many surgeries, never able to hold up his head, sit, stand, talk, suck or swallow properly, and lived a life of pain, seizures and sickness until he mercifully died at age 10.)

Scotty should have been aborted if doctors had just noticed his problems before birth – even at the last minute – but they missed it. When Scotty was finally diagnosed after six agonizing months, doctors urged us to stop the adoption and let him be institutionalized, saying he had only primitive animal reflexes and would never be functional. We just couldn’t do that!

But, my experience made me certain that only a woman, consulting with her doctor, can decide if her fetus should be aborted. No government or sanctimonious, uninformed male must ever have that right.