Chronicle readers react to Roe v. Wade report
News that a leaked draft opinion shows the Supreme Court will strike down Roe v. Wade, its 1973 decision that legalized abortion, hit a nerve:
Vote to legalize abortion
The idea that Roe v. Wade can and may be overturned is a chilling one and difficult to believe that it is one we are facing in 2022.
A woman must have the right to control her own body.
Yet, somehow, the widespread and coordinated attacks against women’s reproductive rights and freedom have brought us to this terrifying point.
However, something can be done, and it must be done. Sen. Bernie Sanders has called for urgent codification of abortion rights into federal law.
Women’s rights can and must be protected. This is not a time for empty posturing or helpless hand-wringing. This is a time for direct action. Senators: Do your job and protect abortion rights. Our children’s future depends on it.
Liz Price, Palo Alto
Keep religion out of it
If the Supreme Court’s conservative justices are unable to find support for Roe in the Constitution, they did not look very hard.
The Establishment Clause of the Constitution prohibits the federal or state governments from imposing religious beliefs on its citizens.
The opposition to abortion is clearly motivated by the Christian political belief that life begins at conception. There is no basis other than religion to support this belief (other religions believe that life begins when the baby takes its first breath).
Roe’s viability condition is a reasonable way to draw the line for when life begins.
Striking down Roe gives preference to Christianity and abrogates the First Amendment.
Adam Schwartz, Redwood City
It’s a GOP takeover
Which is more important: a woman’s right to choose or the “right” of six unelected ideologues appointed mainly by minority-elected presidents to conduct their plotting in secret?
The so-called Republican leadership only talks about the leaking of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. That tells us all we need to know about the moral bankruptcy of that leadership.
Michael Fischer, El Cerrito
A misogynistic move
The word “misogyny” will now be added to the list of negative “isms,” “ists” and “ologies” that are overtaking our country. Woman are being denied the right to make decisions about their bodies.
Men contribute to the making babies and that’s it. But what if a mother has been forced to carry a baby to term, then the father must rear the child from day one, alone? What if he is forced to be a single parent. Do you think the laws might change if that were the case?
Diana DiPietro, Pleasant Hill
Let the protests begin
Once again, women are slaves to the state. Legal precedents can be overturned by a noisy crowd. No implied right under the Constitution is safe. The Constitution itself is a rag to be washed and dyed at will.
The new majority of the Supreme Court is a committee of the Republican Party. There will be riots.
Michel Quihillalt, Clearlake, Lake County
Court joins the scrum
Isn’t it odd that for the first time in U.S. history that the Supreme Court has become political? Now it has a leaker. It now has fallen into line with the rest of government, both local and state, where the Republicans, the party of Trump, are making its move for ultimate control and power.