To the Editor: Re “Guarding Privacy May Not Always Protect Patients” (18 and Under, July 12): A wealth of research shows that access to confidential reproductive health care benefits teenage patients. Although many minors voluntarily consult adult family members on questions about sexual health, others do not feel comfortable, or fear, doing so. New York’s confidentiality laws ensure young people will get the care they need.

To the Editor: If lawmakers and clergy want to reduce the number of abortions in New York, they should back initiatives that would help struggling parents, including paid family leave, paid sick leave and pay equity. They also should support the Healthy Teens Act, which would educate New York's children on how to prevent pregnancies. After enacting these initiatives, they could fight for state-subsidized child care - a cornerstone of support in many European countries with dramatically lower abortion rates than the United States. Corinne A. Carey

To the Editor: Re "Stop Reproductive Health Act efforts," July 13 letter: Assertions in the letter about the Reproductive Health Act were misguided and entirely wrong on the facts. The bill would not force hospitals or doctors to provide abortions against their will. State law already protects a medical provider's right to refuse to perform abortions on moral or religious grounds, and the bill would not affect this important protection.

To the Editor: Your Feb. 2 editorial, “Life should be preserved at all stages,” misrepresents the purpose and effect of the Reproductive Health Act, to be considered by the state Legislature. Since Roe v. Wade, generations of women have benefited from the constitutional right to make one of life’s most important and personal decisions — whether or when to have a child — without government interference. This act ensures that in New York our rights will be protected in the future.

To the editor: Re “Protesting the Protesters” (Dec. 14), about a City Council bill intended to protect patients and staff from harassment by anti-abortion activists who gather outside clinics where abortions are performed: The article quoted the president and founder of the group Expectant Mother Care as stating that the bill sets a “new low standard for the protection of First Amendment rights.”

To the editor: A June 17 letter writer encourages parents to demand more abstinence-only programs. He may as well ask them to insist on more teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. That is what those programs deliver.

To the editor: Your May 16 article, "Little Falls school board discusses character education program," omits that Care Net, the organization proposing the program, defines its mission as "presenting the gospel of our Lord to women with crisis pregnancies." In other words, its true mission is preventing abortion. Unfortunately, we know that such groups often use coercive and deceptive tactics in pursuing their mission. The board of education should reject the program proposed by this organization.

The New York Post ran an editorial Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007 questioning the state Health Department’s decision to reject federal Title V funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. The newspaper based its skepticism, in part, on the notion that state Health Commissioner Richard Daines can “claim as allies the radical miscreants at the New York Civil Liberties Union, who on the same day that he made his announcement released a report slamming the state's abstinence programs.” Donna Lieberman, the NYCLU’s chief miscreant, sent the Post the following rebuttal:

To the Editor: Re: your July 18 news article "Abstinence Education Faces an Uncertain Future": New York receives more abstinence-only funds than any other state except Texas and Florida. The New York Civil Liberties Union recently completed a review of abstinence-only programs in the state and found that they consistently use materials that are medically inaccurate and biased and are administered without adequate quality control or evaluation measures.

To the Editor: Re “New York’s Schools for Pregnant Girls Will Close,” front page, May 24: As the Department of Education acknowledges, too many pregnant and parenting students are denied access to the educational opportunities they deserve. Closing the “P-Schools” will not fix this problem.