A belief in something doesn’t make it so

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito states in his draft opinion striking down Roe v. Wade that “some believe fervently that a human person comes into being at conception and that abortion ends an innocent life.” It’s a BELIEF, even if it is fervent. It should be filed under the category of religion. Some people believe in stolen elections and “Jewish Space Lasers” without proof. (“Interstate abortion battles are expected,” May 5.)

More importantly, some clearly do not believe this. All nine of the current Justices were born and have legal documents (birth certificates) to prove it. None, however, can prove in a court of law that they were ever conceived — it is only inferred — and thus belongs in the belief section as well. Neither position regarding fetal life is provable to date, so if Alito can’t remove this belief from his judicial responsibility to be impartial despite his own religious beliefs, he must recuse, and not establish his belief upon the rest of us. Maybe the egregious error Justice Alito should correct is his use of beliefs in lieu of actual proof.