Publish My Opinion
Tips on Writing Letters to the Editor
1) Keep it short
Newspapers don't have the space to print letters that are more than 150-250 words so keep it short and get to your point quickly.
2) Only hit one or two main points
Since letters to the editor have to be so short, it's important to only highlight one or two main points. Anything beyond that and your message is lost. See the Top 5 talking points on the conscience clause below.
3) Make it personal
If you can, make the letter personal. Write about how some piece of legislation or regulation affects you personally. Show why it will affect a program or business in your local community.
4) Reference the article you are commenting about
Usually letters to the editor are in response to a particular article or editorial that they ran in their newspaper so be sure to cite that in your response if you responding to an article.
5) Give the reader some type of actionable item.
In this case, make sure to tell them they can help keep their doctors in business by appealing to President Obama and their Members of Congress to keep the conscience clause in place by visiting Freedom2Care.org and signing a petition.
Top 5 Talking Points on the Conscience Clause
1) Without the conscience clause, healthcare access for hundreds of thousands of patients nationwide will be threatened and healthcare costs will rise because of the lack of facilities to provide needed services. Doctors could leave their practices rather than comply with a mandate to violate their consciences, leaving hundreds of thousands of patients without doctors.
2) Rescinding the conscience clause is the first step towards allowing the government into personal, and sometimes life and death, decisions. The conscience clause is a necessary regulation to preserve the exclusive patient to doctor relationship. Without it, the government will be able to effectively limit where patients can go for care.
3) No doctor should lose their job or be denied a promotion for following their conscience. The conscience clause is necessary to ensure physicians are not penalized for following the Hippocratic Oath and putting the health of their patients first.
4) Americans support the conscience clause. A nationwide survey conducted by The Polling Company, Inc. and completed in April 2009 revealed that 63% support conscience protection regulation.
5) Rescinding the conscience clause protections for medical professionals is another example of how the Obama Administration is the most pro-abortion administration in history.
Sample letters
Note: The following examples of what a letter to the editor about conscience in healthcare might contain are offered to help you get started in writing your own personal letter, drawing from your own experience and perspective.
Letter to the Editor #1
Dear Editor:
I am writing in response to your editorial on the conscience clause ("XXX-XXX" DATE) that supported the Obama Administration's proposal to rescind the rule. With the nationwide shortage of nurses and the long wait, sometimes over a month, to see my ob/gyn, I think rescinding a rule that protects healthcare professionals who do not want to perform medical procedures they morally oppose would be reckless and irresponsible.
My doctor has said that if she is faced with the choice to either leave her profession or perform an abortion, she would stop practicing medicine rather than violate her conscience. Where would I go then? How much longer would I have to wait to see a doctor?
If the conscience clause is rescinded, it could have long standing ramifications. The relationship between patients and their doctors are sacred. I do not want the government telling me which healthcare professional I should be seeing since they forced my own doctor out of business with laws and regulations. I'm not comfortable with that kind of government intervention.
Please tell President Obama to keep the conscience clause in place. You can make your voice heard at www.freedom2care.org.
Signed,
XXXXX
SAMPLE Letter to the Editor #2
Dear Editor:
President Obama recently announced his intention to rescind the "conscience clause," a rule that protects doctors, nurses, med students and other healthcare professionals from discrimination who choose not to perform medical procedures, like abortions, which they are morally opposed to. It is an unfortunate plan by the Obama Administration to rescind this rule in the midst of calling for universal healthcare and access for everyone.
If doctors and nurses are forced to resign rather than violate their consciences, where does that leave hundreds of thousands of patients in need of care? Even worse, what if faith-based hospitals refuse to perform abortions and are forced to shut down? The effects would resonate deeply not only nationally but especially for local communities who would struggle with job losses and a hit to their local economies.
I urge President Obama to reconsider his intention to rescind the conscience clause. No doctor should have to choose between their jobs or their consciences. Go to www.freedom2care.org to sign a petition asking Obama to keep the conscience clause in place.
Signed,
XXXX
For more tips and ammunition, see the Learn tab on the www.Freedom2Care.org web site. For examples of published commentaries on conscience, click here.
Quick tips for writing a letter to the editor and strengthening your writing
By Jonathan Imbody, used with permission from Christian Medical Assn. All rights reserved.CHASE formula for letters:
A. Citation - reference and summarize the targeted article or editorial
B. Headline - state your main point
C. Arguments - present logic, statistics, quotes
D. Solution - present your alternative, call for action if appropriate
E. Exit - end with a memorable parting shot
Strengthening your writing
A. Make it active.
1. Whenever possible, make the subject act. Avoid overusing forms of "to be" (e.g., is, are, was, were, am, will be,
2. Use a grammar checker and aim to keep passive sentences under 10 percent.
B. Trim unneeded words. Say it more simply.
C. Make music.1. Use the rhythm of parallelism
2. Vary sentence length
D. Employ alliteration (a sequence of similar sounds).
Resources
A. Editing and Grammar: Strunk and White, The Elements of Style, 4th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000.
B. Journalistic style: Goldstein, ed., The Associated Press Stylebook. Cambridge: Perseus Publishing, 2000.
