Letters to the Editor for Oct. 9
Newtown Township supervisors object to editorial
While it might be the opinion of the newspaper's editorial board and Newtown Township Supervisor Kyle Davis that we should "never offer thoughts on the abortion debate," (Oct. 2) the rest of the Newtown supervisors strongly disagree.
We were elected to represent this community, and there aren’t rules and regulations to stop us from taking up social issues, especially when 50% of the population is involved. By that, of course, I mean women. This is a very nonpartisan notion to want to protect women in our community.
Our symbolic gesture that we presented is intended to send a message to Harrisburg, as our state senate met in the middle of the night of July 8 to craft Senate Bill 106 where Republicans chose to take away women’s rights to reproductive health. If it's voted affirmatively again with a new legislature next year there is a very good chance that it will be placed on the ballot for voters as early as the primary election of May 23, 2023.
As supervisors, we are tasked with the general governance — legislative, executive, and administratively in order to ensure sound fiscal management and to secure the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the township as stated in Title 53 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes that govern township supervisors.
Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures, and now, as a right has been stripped away from us by the Supreme Court, it is time for all of us to renew our commitment to women’s rights because women’s rights are human rights. Supervisors have the right to do this.
Elen Snyder
Newtown Township Supervisor
Newtown supervisors' abortion resolution divisive
Newtown Township's resolution (valuing reproductive rights) is a very divisive action that will erode the common goodness of our community. It supports only one side of a crisis pregnancy, that which is the purposeful ending of a human life. It includes no listing of the various crisis pregnancy centers available to township residents. These centers help women with their pregnancy, with their life after giving birth, with the care of the mother and baby, and also with the care of the mother who aborted her baby and her needs in grappling with ending her baby’s life. The Gianna Center, A Baby’s Breath, and Legacy of Life are all centers for help, support and guidance for women in such a crisis. Their contact information is below. Please consider adding these centers to your resolution so as not to exclude such life-saving information in your quest to support women that need help.
The Gianna CenterSuburban Community HospitalMedical Arts Pavilion, Suite 2072705 DeKalb PikeEast Norriton, PA 19401(215) 857-9599
A Baby’s Breath65 West Street Rd.,Bldg. B, Suite 203Warminster PA 18974(215) 442-0442
Legacy of Life25 South Main Street, #217Yardley, PA 19067(215) 788-4051
Debbie McFarlane
Newtown Township
This article originally appeared on The Intelligencer: Letter writers weigh in on Newtown Township abortion discussion
