To the editor:

Abortion is a hot button issue. No surprise there. One side portrays having an abortion as wrong, plain and simple. The other side portrays it in terms of what is best for women and others in their lives when an unplanned pregnancy occurs. 

I’m here today, though, to talk about the practical effect of which women among us can have an abortion if the amendment passes.   

Its passage along with legislative prohibitions on abortion will have little effect on women with financial resources. They will simply drive to Illinois for “a weekend away” or fly to California for a little “sun and relaxation.” Those are the “code words” that are used to keep the real reason for keeping a trip secret. Having an abortion is, after all, an extremely private and personal decision. 

If you are poor and working several jobs, you will need more than a “code word” to get an abortion. You will need a miracle. Women in this situation won’t be able to travel across the country to get what they so desperately need.

Access to an abortion in another state means nothing if you are poor. I’m voting NO on August 2nd. Voting otherwise will unjustly punish poor women.

Ken Grotewiel

Lawrence