Dear editor,

I would like to respond to some points made by Kendra Majors in her Aug. 12, 2015 column in the Star-News, “If fetal tissue research could help, I’d say, ‘yes.’”

Ms. Majors states that she has a child with an autoimmune disorder. Her condition is painful and incurable. My heart goes out to her and her daughter. It is very difficult to have a sick child with an incurable illness. It must be agonizing to seek help to find effective treatment so her daughter can live a well-adjusted pain-free life. If she were my child, I’d be looking for solutions, too. My prayers and thoughts go out to her. I pray for the elimination of pain and a cure for her little girl’s disorder.

Ms. Majors seems to have hope in Planned Parenthood’s services-fetal tissue research from babies aborted at their centers, family planning, mammograms, testing and treatment of STDs, screenings for cervical cancer.

The public needs to examine, if and exactly how, Planned Parenthood carries out the things they claim are helpful to women and their families.

Where is the proof that Planned Parenthood actually does what it says except to perform abortions?

Where is the evidence that Planned Parenthood helps the number of people it says it does?

Yes, there has been a lot of dialog and debate about whether Congress should defund Planned Parenthood.

There should be; the majority of the population does not want to pay for abortion because it believes that abortion is the taking of life

Planned Parenthood does pay for abortions; the doctors and others in the videos discuss how to perform abortions to get the results they want in the five videos the Center for Medical Progress released to the public. Yes, the “opponents of abortion spoke out heavily” calling for defunding Planned Parenthood, and rightly so.

“Researchers defended the organization and the handling of donated tissue due to the ability to save lives.” Who are these researchers and what organizations are they affiliated with and what are their credentials?

“The tissues would otherwise be thrown away and have played a vital role in medical advances.” Who would throw away an unborn baby for any reason!

Abortion is the taking of a life; there is little, if any proof, that fetal stem cell research advances the cure for any disease.

Adult stem cell research shows promise and the cells can be harvested from living adults. No life is taken.

Yes, abortion is legal in this country, much to our shame.

It should not be; there are laws against murder.

Ms. Majors expresses concern about unwanted children. Just because an unborn baby is unwanted does not mean that child is unworthy and should have his/her life snuffed out without even a chance to be born.

Who knows how many aborted babies would have grown up to be research scientists, or other contributing citizens if they had been allowed to live.

Women and their families have other options of where to seek help for an expected or unexpected pregnancy.

Our local Sav-A-Life Family Hope Center, for example, is open to all who seek their services.

The public needs to question the use of its tax dollars to fund Planned Parenthood.

Organizations like the Center of Medical Progress are finding out the truth and it is worth paying attention to what they reveal.

Nancy Darnell