Editor, Gazette-Journal:

Letters to the editor are written to express a personal opinion as a public statement. Printed words are as powerful as those spoken … both absorbed by our brains and interpreted as either truth or fiction, often depending on the source. While totally agreeing with a letter to the editor last week (“Abortion is murder, Doctor Northam,” Sept. 7, Readers Write) that “let’s be honest—something we all want our leaders to be,” I’d like to suggest that her perception that our Lt. Gov. Dr. Ralph Northam, “champions” a woman to abort her pregnancy is a false impression.

In America, few politicians would state that any woman “should” abort her unborn baby. What is debated is a woman’s right to choose what is best for her. Empathy is called for a woman’s myriad reasons that can lead to her decision (I believe seldom taken lightly) to undergo an abortion, some of which would be in order...