To the Editor:

On the ballot this November is the United States House of Representatives. Mr. Paul Tonko is our incumbent representative and is a Democrat.

Running against Mr. Tonko is Elizabeth Joy, running on the Republican, Conservative, and Serve America party lines. Ms. Joy has, as her main theme, the stance of pro-life. My questions for Ms. Joy are as follows:

How can you be pro-life if you are not against common-sense gun control like control over the automatic and semi-automatic rifles?

How can you be pro-life if you are for shutting down the Environment Protection Agency that ensures clean air and clean water?

How can you be pro-life and yet support this president who has presided over the deaths of 220,000 people during this COVID-19 epidemic?

How can you be pro-life if you don’t support programs like Head Start which promotes basic education, health, and nutrition for the most disadvantaged?

How can you be pro-life if you support Donald Trump and his policies of splitting families at the border?

You cannot be pro-life and not believe in public housing or public education and you cannot be pro-life and not condemn white supremacy.

Thomas Friedman in The New York Times on Oct. 27, 2012 indicated that you need to call yourself a “pro-conception to birth, indifferent to life conservative.”

Unfortunately, the nation is populated with politicians and voters like Ms. Joy. We can do much better by keeping Mr. Tonko on as our representative and let him continue to work tirelessly for us.

John B. Haluska

Guilderland