Two families and Whitehead gets pro-life wrong

By Published by The Editorial Board

Published: November 25, 2008

Two families move forward in pain

To the editor:

In regards to your article, “Danville manslaughter conviction upheld,” (Oct. 8, page A4), I would like to comment on a couple of points.

First, you did not mention that Josh Coyle was a 19-year-old teenager at the time of the incident — not that age makes it OK. But your article calls him a man — which could be any age rather than another teenager who also made unwise and unhealthy decisions that day.

Your article first states that Coyle admitted that giving DXM to Glenn Thomas Jr would kill him.

In the next paragraph, which is closer to the truth, the article quotes Danville Commonwealth’s Attorney William H. Fuller III as saying, “In this specific case, he knew the potential harm and gave it to him anyway.” The key words being “potential harm.” This can be said about any drug, including aspirin.

Am I writing this to say Coyle should not have consequences for his part in this sad, unfortunate death? No. We all need to be accountable for our actions. I am writing to share information that did not get into the newspaper.

I am heartbroken about the death of Thomas. I am saddened for his family. I pray for them, as does the Coyle family, and pray they can heal and move forward in their lives through forgiveness.

I also want to share what has happened in Josh Coyle’s life. This death will be with him for the rest of his life. He was a teenager heading down the wrong path in life. He had exceptional knowledge and skills that were not put to good use. Coyle went from a troubled teenager one day to a teenager that needed to grow up overnight and carry the death of his friend Glenn on his shoulders forever.

Over the past three years, Josh has worked in his family’s business putting that exceptional knowledge and skills of his to good work. He has found a woman who supports his decision to always stay on the straight and beaten path. Josh took her for his wife and together they have a beautiful son. Josh has grown up, made a family for himself and learned the hard way how to be a valued man in our society.

Does he still need to pay for his part in Thomas’ death? Yes, but he also needs to be seen for who he is today — how one day, three years ago, has changed Josh forever. Writers of articles about him should tell the whole story.

My prayers, along with Josh’s family, is that Glenn family will be able to heal. We pray God will continue to comfort them. We also pray that some day they find it in their hearts to forgive Josh and realize it was a horrible accident where two teenagers were making very unhealthy and dangerous decisions without thinking of the consequences.

DIANE PURRINGTON

To the editor:

Once again, John Whitehead has taken an opportunity to condemn conservatives by setting up a straw man, (“Abortion politics haven’t been saving many lives,” Nov. 22, page A8).

His points on abortion are well taken — the primary thrust of the pro-life community is on providing alternatives to abortion for women with “crisis” pregnancies. That does not mean that we should not fight for the unborn in the political realm by protecting women from the abortion industry.

Whitehead claims that, “for many pro-life groups, a pregnancy that ends with a baby is the end of the story.” What pro-life groups is he talking about? The cornerstone of the pro-life movement is the local pregnancy resource center.

In Danville, that is Little Life Pregnancy Medical Center, of which I am the medical director. At Little Life, we seek to help women who are in a crisis pregnancy — or even suspicious that they are pregnant. We educate them on their alternatives. If they choose to parent their child, they can take classes in parenting and finance. They can earn points which can be used to purchase items for their child. Services do not stop when the baby is born.

If they choose to abort their child, or have chosen abortion in the past, Little Life offers a special ministry called, “HEART: Healing the Effects of Abortion Related Trauma,” which can help them deal with the long-term consequences of a choice.

Of course, Little Life can help if they choose to give their child to a loving family through adoption.

But it doesn’t stop there. Little Life also provides the Family Life curriculum for our public schools. This abstinence-based sex education curriculum helps our kids learn that they are worth the wait and that the healthiest choice is to prevent unplanned pregnancy by delaying the onset of sexual activity until marriage. We also provide counseling and programs to help young women to maintain the decision to remain abstinent.

We are pro-life, we are pro-family and we are pro-child. We aim to help these women, not make them carry an unwanted pregnancy to term and raise an unwanted child. We are about real help and real hope for women in crisis. And this is the heart of the pro-life movement. Mr. Whitehead, I urge you to visit your local pregnancy resource center and discover the truth about the pro-life movement.

C.S. SEEPE, M.D.

Danville