Dear Editor,
The Law and Roe vs Wade
American law [federal], including states’ laws, are based on the United States Constitution of 1790. This document explicitly states that “all powers not specifically set forth for the federal government are reserved to the states.” There is no federal jurisdiction to regulate marriage licenses, local tax rates, or speed limits. These and thousands of others are left to the states to decide and regulate.
The decision to obtain an abortion is surely the personal choice of the woman seeking it. The legal authority governing such action is not federal; it is with the laws of the state wherein the woman seeks its performance. Plainly this action is outside of federal jurisdiction. This patently invalidates the 1973 Supreme Court’s decision to include choice as part of the protection guaranteed by the 1866 14th Amendment. The Court’s rationale was that a woman’s privacy should be protected. That was then and remains now, a grievous error. The issue legally belongs in the state courts, not federal ones. There is no constitutional right to obtain an abortion.
Gynecology 49 years ago was nowhere near as advanced in 1973 as it is today. A fetus was often considered a developing organism rather than a living, growing human being. Today’s sonogram technology clearly shows at 16 weeks, a growing, kicking, yawning, thumb-sucking baby, very much alive. This modern awareness has hopefully been the cause of rethinking abortion’s legitimacy, especially as a means of birth control!
Pro-life advocates have no issue with the choices a woman makes regarding her body; the concern is for the body of the living baby.
As previously stated, a woman surely has the right to choose, especially in cases of rape or if her health be endangered by carrying to term. That said, she has a choice [free will], but does she have a legal right to end her baby’s life?
God bless America!
El Sellers
Fairfield, Texas
