Editor, Gazette-Journal:

It wasn’t until 1965 that the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the right of married people to possess contraception in this country. It wasn’t extended to unmarried people until 1972. Two hundred and twenty-two million women in the developing world lack access to reliable family planning. This alone leads to 63 million unintended pregnancies every year.

And most important, if all of the world’s family planning needs were met, there would be 26 million fewer abortions. And if women in developing countries could space their pregnancies three to five years apart, it could reduce infant deaths by 46 percent and many children who die before the age of 6 years.

James Kenley

Port Haywood and Richmond, Va.