I am writing to support the enactment of LD 1309. As pointed out by Stephan G. Myers in his excellent letter March 28, this bill, which would provide funds to assist indigent women to have access to safe health care options, should not be seen as an issue of whether one favors or opposes abortion, but rather, whether the existing situation, in which public funds are not offered, effectively deprives poor women of a right constitutionally available to others who can afford to exercise it.
Neither is this initiative about whether it imposes an unaffordable extra financial burden on the state, as some contend it does. This proposal is about fairness and equity. Not furnishing these funds, a comparatively small budget line item, is tantamount to discrimination against poor women that can end up being harmful to their health.
Members of the Legislature should pass this bill to enable poor women to exercise rights that are available to financially more fortunate members of their gender.
Louis Scolnik, Lewiston
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