The Issue at the Heart Of Alabama’s Abortion Ban
THE ISSUE: A new Alabama law that bans nearly all abortions, even in the case of rape or incest.
It’s a woman’s right to decide what is right for herself and her reproductive organs (“’Bama gov signs abort bill,” May 16).
It is completely and absolutely wrong for someone — anyone, be it a politician, judge, president, Democrat or Republican — to think he or she should dictate to any woman what her reproductive rights are.
A woman’s “fundamental right to privacy” has been the law of the land since 1973. Anyone’s rights — men, women, gays, etc. — should be fundamentally protected under the law and should not be open to debate or reversal. We should be telling our politicians to “keep their hands off.” Alan Brooks Brooklyn
The question of whether an unborn fetus is legally a human being with a right to life must be decided by the courts.
The argument that it’s a woman’s choice or that criminalizing abortions will bring harm to women who seek them illegally does not preclude the need for a decision on this critical issue.
If we are to continue to allow unrestricted abortions, whether the fetus is a human or not, then we need to be honest about it. We are doing it out of convenience and selfish need, and not because it is morally, legally or in any other way the right thing to do. Charles Michael Sitero Ormond Beach, Fla.
If something is toxic, calling it healthy doesn’t make it so. Similarly, if someone opposes abortion, calling them pro-life doesn’t make it so.
How can they be prolife and still oppose the Affordable Care Act? How can they be pro-life when they oppose sex education and the use of condoms and other forms of contraception as a means of preventing unwanted pregnancies?
It’s time we correctly label those seeking to deny women the right to not be pregnant — whether by choice or necessity. They are not truly pro-lifers. Since they are anti-abortionists, that’s what they should be called. What’s in a name? I say everything. Irving A. Gelb North Bergen, NJ
In this age of screaming and yelling and self-righteous indignation, there’s a commensurate lack of listening.
Might we consider that the race to the right on abortion in Georgia and Alabama might not have been possible if it weren’t for the morally repulsive suggestion that abortion-’til-the-day-of-birth was an idea civilized people should adopt? Richard Vaczy Los Angeles, Calif.
How can adult men and women be so out of touch with a woman’s right in abortion cases, especially when it comes to rape and incest? These are certainly major exceptions to the rule.
Are they so closedminded that they can’t see the emotional damage inflicted on a woman from this violent experience?
There was and always will be an argument as to when life begins, but to put total restrictions on abortion and threaten to punish doctors with imprisonment is so abominable, it’s almost laughable. It almost sounds like a form of Sharia Law. Are we in 2019 or the Dark Ages? Is this America or what? Sam King Manhattan
The new Alabama antiabortion law is just. The law punishes anyone who destroys a turtle or eagle egg, so the same should apply to anyone who destroys what is inside the uterus at any stage.
The substance of what’s inside a uterus, and what or who it will become, is the issue. J. Black Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Abortion is not about choice or preserving life.
Supporters argue legalized abortion protects the right to choose and will help save lives. This statement is misleading since the unborn baby has no choice. Its life is not saved.
Tragically, for the unborn baby, abortion is a death sentence without due process and the mother’s womb becomes death row. Kevin Palmer Evans, Ga.
Some 25 men should not be the deciders of what a woman can do with her body. If men gave birth, this would be an entirely different conversation.
Not everybody believes (and belief is not a measure of fact) that life starts at fertilization. S. Leelike Manhattan