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Letter: Trust women to make that choice

(Francisco Kjolseth  |  The Salt Lake Tribune)  Utah Senator Daniel McCay, R-Riverton, speaks during an event put on by Abortion-Free Utah as it launches a public campaign to end elective abortion in the state of Utah during a press event in the rotunda of the Utah Capitol on Wed. June 19, 2019.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Senator Daniel McCay, R-Riverton, speaks during an event put on by Abortion-Free Utah as it launches a public campaign to end elective abortion in the state of Utah during a press event in the rotunda of the Utah Capitol on Wed. June 19, 2019.

We are told we cannot hide behind the words “choice” or “privacy” or “freedom” while discussing reproductive agency, according to state Sen. Dan McCay after proposing an elective abortion ban in Utah.

As we are advised to dismiss or disparage these essential elements of free agency, is it OK to talk about trust?

We cannot hide behind the words “pro-life,” “life of a child,” or “divine personage” (sic) if we can’t trust health care is a human right. We must trust we have adequate food and comfortable housing ensured by a living wage for our work. We have to trust education benefitting society is a role of government, that a sustainable climate future is a priority.

Dan McCay says these things are the role of government for the vulnerable, but his voting record says we cannot trust any of it.

We can’t use language as garb to proselytize a belief that some people are entitled to more privilege than others. We should return to our natural human awareness of the spiritual agency of trust. If as a society we want to force a woman to raise a child, surely we can trust her to make a choice.

Frank Brannan, Salt Lake City

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