I am a 59-year-old woman who believes in life. I am against abortion, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a good reason for a woman to get an abortion.

There could be a woman who is a single parent of four children already and she found out she is pregnant again. But she knows there is no way she can afford to raise another child on what she makes when she and her four children are already struggling.

Yes, she can apply for government assistance, but is that what she wants to do or is that what the government wants her to do?

There could be a woman who was raped and became pregnant, and to carry this child to term could cause her mental anguish. And every time she looks at this child could cause her to hate this child.

This is where children feel unwanted and then turn to the streets to grow up. Is this what the woman who was raped wants her child to feel?

There also are medical conditions that would cause a woman to have an abortion. This is where you hear families asking, “Do I save the mother or the child?”

A family should not have to choose one or the other, but the woman and her family have the right to discuss the issue and choose what is best for them and the government should not interfere.

In my opinion, no matter the situation, the mother and her family, her doctor and those she wishes to confide in have the right to choose what is best and the government should not butt in and say if she gets an abortion she will be charged with a felony.

PENNY EAKES

Henrico County