Three major issues are currently on the minds of most Americans. These are (1) jobs going overseas, (2) swelling numbers of immigrants, both legal and illegal, and (3) transferring to foreign organizations the power to dictate our nation's policies. All three of these concerns are traceable to the federal government's ill-advised action that placed our nation in NAFTA and the World Trade Organization, and then unconstitutionally transferred congressional power regarding trade policies to the White House.

Congress approved these harmful measures after being assured that each would promote "free trade" and nothing else. But, as the results show, there is nothing "free" about these entanglements. Instead, their harmful effects have become obvious.

So I have to ask: Why has Congressman Jim Nussle supported this type of measure in the past? In particular, we should be concerned about his vote in favor of the U.S.-Chile Trade Agreement that is being used as a precursor to the badly misnamed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). No member of Congress can be ignorant of the consequences of mislabeled "free trade." These transfers of power have already cost the jobs of the people, weakened an ability to guard our borders, and cancelled some of our nation's hard-won independence.

We should urge Congressman Nussle to reverse course and oppose the forthcoming plan to create an even more threatening measure called the Free Trade Area of the Americas. If Congress should ignore the wishes of countless numbers of Americans and approve this huge transfer of power, more jobs will leave, more immigrants will flood our nation, and more of America's independence will be cancelled. The plan to create an FTAA must be scuttled when it comes before Congress for a vote.

Robert W. Kelley
Davenport

Mainstream Medicine Has Lost Its Soul


Earlier this month, the district courts took up President Bush's law outlawing Partial Birth Abortion. (otherwise known as D&X). The National Abortion Federation, Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, and a handful of doctors sued to overturn the law. They say its language could criminalize more common types of abortion and could be a step toward abolishing abortion in the United States. As a physician, I know this procedure has no place in medicine. As a family physician, I was trained in obstetrics. I never saw it performed, or even discussed as a viable medical option. A woman who is so ill to require an abortion to save her life or health would never be put through this gruesome procedure. Planned Parenthood is wrong. They are against this sensible restriction on abortion, just to protect the dogma of Roe v. Wade. Sadly, many of my peers have sided with the abortionists. The American Medical Association does not encourage use of D&X but says it should not be banned. The College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists says alternatives to D&X usually exist, but that in some circumstances it may be the best procedure. I feel that mainstream medicine has lost its soul. Many of the so-called experts have forgotten the sanctity of life, the whole reason we went to medical school. The abortionists are hiding the truth. They know this procedure is only done electively, on healthy women and for the sake of convenience. It is a barbaric thing to do to a baby. I pray for medicine to find its soul again, and to stop the killing. How can our patients trust us if we endorse the slaughter of their children?

Thomas Messe, M.D.
Groton, Connecticut

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