Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Letter to the Editor: Gag Rule is Unethical


To the editor:

I am writing to express my concern regarding the gag rule recently proposed by the Trump-Pence administration. This gag rule is medically unethical and a blatant attempt to infringe on women's basic rights.

Title X is a federal program which has for decades provided funding for reproductive healthcare, like preventative cancer screening and birth control, for women who could not otherwise afford this care.

Not only would this proposed gag rule make it illegal for health care providers in the Title X program to inform their patients on how to access safe, legal abortion; it would also implement other regulations designed to keep millions of women from accessing birth control and other preventative care, from providers like Planned Parenthood.

It is 2018. The fact that something like this is on the table is frightening and absurd.

Recent polling has shown an overwhelming opposition to Trump's gag rule as 73 percent of Americans - myself included - disapprove of these efforts to restrict women's rights and access to health care. More than 200 members of Congress, over 110 public health organizations, major medical associations such as the American Medical Association, and PlannedParenthood's 11 million supporters are coming out against this dangerous rule because it is just that: dangerous.

I urge your readers to stand against this proposed rule and see it for what it is: an assault on our basic rights.

Deborah Shakotko
Claverack

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