Recent letter writers have made a number of assertions that reflect a conservative mindset. There have been a number of factual misstatements that they have used to support their assertions. I would like to rebut some of their assertions from a progressive mindset and present my own.

Furman Joye compares killing the celebrity lion to 3,000 abortions. The lion is an endangered species and this particular lion was a celebrity who was lured from his normal habitat by a baiting regimen which was illegal. When a woman decides to have an abortion of a pregnancy that she does not wish to carry to term, that is her (legal) decision and it prevents the production of an innocent, unwanted human being who statistically is going to become a burden on society (something that you would expect a conservative to embrace). We have an overpopulation problem around the world, including the United States, and anything that can be done to control this is a positive.

Not a single dollar given to Planned Parenthood goes to abortion. The group provides many other health services (first and foremost is birth control — which prevents abortion) to women and these are the activities that are supported by tax dollars. Further, the selling of the fetal parts to people doing research is done solely to cover the cost of obtaining and preserving and transporting the fetal tissue. There is no profit or government support involved.

I agree that we have a do-nothing Republican-controlled Congress. This is on purpose. Republicans do not believe in governing. Unless, of course, it is to invade women’s reproductive areas or prevent people of color from voting or going to war in unwinnable Middle East quagmires or to prevent people previously without health insurance from getting coverage.

Mr. Joye is incorrect in stating that a majority of Americans feel that marriage equality is wrong. The reverse is true. But, even if it were true, it is up to the Supreme Court to determine and interpret what our constitution means.

I don’t know who Mr. Joye thinks is an open homosexual on the Supreme Court, but if there is one, that represents an approximately equal percentage of the number of homosexuals in the population and would be entirely appropriate. His ad hominem attack on Justice Ginsburg shows his ignorance of her historic tenure and brilliance.

The Confederate battle flag’s “heritage” represents slavery and Jim Crow to most black people. It was put on a flagpole at the South Carolina State Capitol when the civil rights movement started in the 1960s. In South Carolina there have been a majority of black citizens for most of its history. Removal of the flag does not erase “all prejudice and wrongdoings of the past.”

Rev. Fillmer Hevener’s description of oligarchy does not fit the definition, which is a society controlled by a few wealthy people. He’s right that we have an oligarchy in this country, but it is run by the Koch brothers and other super-rich businessmen, not the politicians.

If he thinks Uganda is a country that does things better than we do, he has a very unusual sense of right, wrong and morality. How would he feel if this country treated Christians the way Uganda treats homosexuals (death penalty)?

Obamacare has lowered insurance costs for families. The increase projected by Forbes would be far less than otherwise and is only a guess from a source that predicted collapse of the economy from Obamacare, hardly what has happened.

Dr. Stephen Goldberger attended Cornell and Boston universities, and is an ear, nose and throat specialist who has practiced in Farmville for the past 11 years. His email address is auenhands@gmail.com.