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Dear
George: What with this stolen election, and the anti-choicers calling the shots, I must have lost my sense of humor. It's reported that Virginia Sen. Leslie Byrne (D., Fairfax) 'jokingly' suggested that if women seeking abortions are to sign informed-consent forms and wait 24 hours, then men seeking Viagra (which has been implicated in thousands of heart and angina attacks and not a few deaths) should also sign informed-consent forms and wait 24 hours. What's the matter with me? I'm not laughing. To me, Byrne's idea makes perfect sense. Love, Carolyn Jones Silver (electronic mail, February 7, 2001) "Dear Carolyn, I wasn't joking either. If we are to assume that women are too dumb to know what information we need, then it makes perfect sense that men be single out for what they don't know. Furthermore, the General Assembly in it's wisdom tell women how long it will take them to absorb the information (24 hours), it think it takes men about the same time. The item I left out of my amendment, suggested to me by a Doctor in Woodbridge, is the use of graphic material to show the effects of Viagra, including some guy clutching his chest. In all seriousness, this bill underscores the need for the Equal Right Amendment in the constitution. Can you imagine if the bill referred to African-Americans or Hispanics instead of women? This bill singles out a class of citizens for unequal treatment because we are not protected against discrimination as a class. Thank you for writing and keep the faith. Regards, Leslie Byrne
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