Is there anyone Chris Carrie Fien dislikes more than George Bush ("George Bush Wants to Get You Pregnant," July 23)? Perhaps Dr. Bernard Nathanson, who switched from being one of the nation's leading advocates for and providers of abortion to a pro-life advocacy after studying the video "The Silent Scream"?

Inaccuracies abound throughout the column. Ms. Fien commented that philosophers, scientists, and religious thinkers have always struggled with the question of when life begins. While the ancients and pre-DNA members of that select group may have struggled with the subject, that is not their consensus today.

Ms. Fien's depiction of what the Department of Health and Human Services proposal is about is crude, to say the least, regardless of her views on ending life. She states that birth-control pills do more than prevent conception. In fact, they never prevent conception. They prevent conceived eggs from implanting. After life has begun, the newly conceived child dies from malnutrition. That makes it an abortion pill rather than a contraceptive.

That people should not be forced to partake in anything bordering on the taking of human life is what the proposal is about. If a reckless person creates human life, why should an innocent person be involved in taking that innocent life in order to get a job?

ANTONIO M. LA PIETRA, IRONDEQUOIT