My name is Frances Martin and I have been a resident of Albemarle County for thirty-six years.

Today thousands of young Americans in Afghanistan are fighting the Taliban, a rigid religious sect trying to impose its harsh moral code on a whole society. Unfortunately, here in the home of Thomas Jefferson, an icon of individual freedom, we have an equally rigid group bent on denying personal freedom to those who disagree with them. Unwilling and unable to convince their opponents with rational argument, they assert their beliefs as if they were eternal truths. Elsewhere they resort to tactics of intimidation and even violence to promote their cause. In Albemarle County they claim that Planned Parenthood has no legal right to operate its clinic in a neighborhood that includes stores, restaurants, churches, well-drilling companies, and construction firms, as well as residential uses.

Planned Parenthood carries out its work without tax support, assisting all who come willingly to its door. All its functions are within legal and constitutional bounds. For decades it has faced vicious attacks for helping women control their reproductive lives. Their attackers take the irrational position that fertilized eggs deserve more compassion than women fighting centuries of ignorance and indifference to their fate. While those taking such a position are entitled to their opinions, the rest of us are entitled to follow our own consciences.

I hope that you will uphold the American value of personal freedom and sustain the right of Planned Parenthood to occupy its legally constructed center.

Frances Martin (electronic mail, November 11, 2004)