Thousands of women marched down Pennnsylvania Avenue in Washington Sunday during an abortion rights rally. (AP photo)

While I was happy to see the Associated Press article "Abortion rights marchers throng to National Mall" (April 26), I only wish it was a more complete and accurate article, being it was printed the day after the event. After all, these people gave up at least their weekend and paid the cost of travel from as far away as Arizona, California and Washington state to help represent every woman in our country. People from some 57 other countries also joined them.

Hundreds of thousands of people spoke up to say women deserve equal and reproductive rights. This is not just an abortion rights issue. This is rights for equal pay, health insurance for contraceptives, sex education and Planned Parenthood.

While I was not one of the many from around the country, or even our local folks from Cincinnati, who attended the march, I would like to thank them all for speaking for the rest of us unable to attend.

Linda Perrone, Sharonville

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What generation would that be?

Regarding the article "Abortion rights marchers throng to National Mall" (April 26), one Carole Mehlman from Florida is quoted as saying, "I just had to be here to fight for the next generation and the generation after that ..."

Doesn't this raise the question, "What next generation?"

Scott Smith, Delhi Township

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Tillman is enjoying heavenly reward

As one who doesn't deal well with losing a loved one, my husband comforts me by telling me that he looks upon death as the individual had life all figured out and was called home to his heavenly reward. His comforting words to me seem to fit the life of Army Ranger Pat Tillman, who gave up a career in football to serve our country in his dedication to the military ("Ex-NFL player dies in combat, April 24). Tillman's family must be extremely proud of him, and I hope they are comforted knowing he is enjoying his heavenly reward.

Cheri Lehrter, Reading

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Fallen troops deserve public honors

Regarding "Photo images honor our troops" (April 25) about the photos of flag-draped coffins: The names of the fallen were not identified. How could the pictures intrude on an individual family's grief?

These eager young people offer everything they have in a strange, inhospitable land, for an uncaring and ungrateful people. They die in near-obscurity, are flown unseen back to their homeland, and are buried far from Washington, out of sight of the architects of this war.

But our nation is not allowed to mourn their loss, to grieve with their families. There are no public ceremonies, no speeches, to honor the nobility of their sacrifice. They made the ultimate sacrifice. The least we can do is say thank you.

Shirley Pritchard, Lebanon

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Paper trail for votes is essential

As a registered voter, I was appalled by the recent editorial on voting rights, "Stop stalling on Ohio election reform" (April 25). The opinion expressed by the Enquirer was that a voter verifiable audit trial "would turn electronic systems into costly printers of hand-counted ballots."

This is precisely the point. The track record of electronic voting machines proves that internal verification is inadequate. Precincts in other states where such machines have been used have had multiple problems. Some precincts counted more votes cast than people who voted. Some candidates have ended up with a negative number of votes.

Without a voter verifiable paper trail, the average voter cannot know his or her vote was properly cast. Machines can be misconfigured, mistakenly or intentionally. Machines can be electronically subverted. In a democracy we cannot tolerate a lack of confidence in the voting process. We need a voter verifiable paper trail in Ohio.

Lee Malatesta, Norwood

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High school students need more sleep

Students in most high schools today come to school around 7 a.m. This means some students must get up between 5:30 and 6 a.m. each day in order to get ready for school. Students also have homework, extracurricular activities, jobs and family activities after school. These push bedtimes for students back to the late hours of the night.

Many students are only getting six hours of sleep a night, when the latest research has shown that they need more sleep (eight to 10 hours) than other age groups because of their changing bodies and growth. Sleep is critical for teenagers, and something must be done to correct this lack of sleep, such as changing the start time of schools.

Eric Keyes, Sharonville