Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

Healthcare is a right

I find the conclusion of the Hatchet editorial on RU-486/abortion pill (Choosing choice, Oct. 10) very unsettling. As the editorial states, sometimes contraception fails; in those instances responsible adults … deserve the option of a non-invasive, medical abortion such as RU-486.Is an implication of that, irresponsible adults don’t deserve that option? If so, and if we follow these recommendations, our future world will become more and more populated by unwanted children, many of whom were raised by their irresponsible parents! This thought is very troubling; this is not a world I look forward to.

The question is, should medical procedures be available only for those who deserve them? Or, alternatively only for those who can afford them? For rats and cockroaches, the world is brutish; it is survival of the fittest; they live inevitably by supply and demand. For humans, health care can be apportioned similarly, but there are other possibilities. Only for those who deserve health procedures may seem like a step forward, but what about compassion, care, need, justice? A world that includes these human considerations is one that I do look forward to.

-Paul J. Poppenpsychology professor

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