At the time of Christ, the world’s population is estimated to have been about 300 million people. We are now approaching 7 billion people.

It is hard to argue against the fact that the population growth of humanity (and the attendant stresses of the industrial and technological revolution) has strained the world’s resources, and threatened world peace and the future of life as we know it. We clearly do not need to increase the population of humanity on the surface of this planet.

The idea that we should force women to carry unwanted pregnancies is absurd and robs women of the most basic right: control of their own bodies. The idea that women who have carried a pregnancy for nine months are willingly killing their newborn babies is a lie and is unsupported by any factual data.

Furthermore, the greatest threat to law and order in our nation is not due to the influx of immigrants but to the proliferation of guns, the lack of a social support network, the unequal treatment and education of minorities, and the obscene inequality of wealth made possible by an outdated and undemocratic tax system that is perpetuated by greed.

Our nation is under threat, not because of homosexuality, same-sex marriage, or immigrants, but because of white supremacy, right-wing evangelical extremists who think their warped interpretation of the Bible should be the law of our land, and authoritarian narcissists who have gained power by appealing to fear, prejudice and hatred.

We can do better.

William Phillips MD, Auburn