This letter is in reference to Charlie Mitchell’s column of Oct. 16, “Personhood Amendment won’t bridge the divide.”

Mr. Mitchell’s article was thoughtprovoking treatise on Amendment 26 and brought out situations and legal problems that I had not considered. But his initial premise that the proposal “will not make the world a safer, more loving place for children born or unborn” is an understatement.

Surely these unborns will never have the chance to experience love, or life for that matter. Charlie points out that no state has a lower rate of abortions than Mississippi. That is probably true, but we do have the third highest rate of teenage pregnancies (ages 15-19) in the United States.

Is there a correlation? Hopefully the children of these teenage mothers will receive love, a safe environment and a future.

I am not a spiritual person, but I believe what I believe, and I believe life begins at conception. I know there are problems with Initiative 26. I have a grandchild born in vitro and I love her dearly. But that does not alter my basic belief regarding the beginning of life.

Charlie outlines some of the problems the amendment, if adopted, will cause in the scientific and medical professions. So be it. As an old anti-aircraft officer responded when asked how he identified friendly aircraft from enemy, “We shoot ’em down in the air and sort it out on the ground.”

Let the process begin. I urge all voters to vote for Initiative 26 so that a national dialogue can be initiated, hopefully to ban abortions and cease government funding of the practice.

David Speyerer

Vicksburg