Founding Fathers defined life as unalienable right

Re: "Most 'right-to-lifers' are scientifically ignorant," From Readers, Aug. 29

In his diatribe against pro-life religious organizations, whom he accuses of being scientifically ignorant, Dino Drudi avoids the basic scientific facts and logical reasoning that underlie their position. Could it rather be that the pro-choice, contraceptive-abortive mentality of the religious organizations Drudi touts blinds them to "unfriendly" scientific fact?

Perusing any biological textbook reveals that human life begins at conception and not, as Drudi proposes, with the newborn's first independent breath. The newly conceived baby has 46 chromosomes, 23 from Mommy and 23 from Daddy. Yet the child is neither, as defined by her/his genes, but a separate member of the human race.

Is this new human being a "person"? The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines a person as "human, individual" and "one that is recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties." This leads to the question: Is personhood inherent or granted by the state?

In the Declaration of Independence, our Founding Fathers wrote that human beings are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." So personhood is inherent in each of us.

Jim Park

Alexandria

D.C. drivers are lost in own little worlds

Re: "Study: D.C. drivers worst in nation," Aug. 28

Ben Gile's article gave me a level of ecstasy that only comes from being inarguably proved right. Locals will argue bitterly with a non-native like me, but they can't reasonably dispute a study by insurance giant Allstate that the D.C. area has the worst drivers in the United States.

While Allstate's report doesn't examine the causes, I can offer my own two-decade long observation: People here drive as though they are the "boy in the plastic bubble." They think nothing exists outside their little world, so they don't look when switching lanes, etc.

It completely escapes them there is one law they can't disobey: the law of physics. No two objects can occupy the same space at the same time.

And if it'sthree strikes and you're out, what does the D.C. area get for having the worst driversfiveyears in a row?

Doreen Turczyn-Toles

Gaithersburg

Silent majority will come to the rescue in November

It is indicative of the Obama agenda that Sandra Fluke is on the speaking agenda for the Democratic National Convention. With record unemployment and a federal deficit in the stratosphere, the Democratic hierarchy is highlighting a middle-class law student who thinks the government should fund her birth control.

Regardless of those who believe lawyers should not reproduce, the burgeoning nanny state under President Obama can only lead to disaster for all Americans.

Do we want to live in a country that relies on the government to support bad personal decisions, ignores its founding principles, flouts its own laws and lowers the bar on education?

The silent majority will once again come to the country's rescue. Those who live in the make-believe world of Hollywood and the majority of the liberal media that views the general population as too dumb to understand the issues have done a disservice to the country.

A change is coming!

Thomas Winthrop

Fairfax