Letters to the Editor: Abortion rights
Dear Editor:
According to Wikipedia, prior to 1973 and for some 200 years, abortion issues were handled by the state courts. Since abortion rights are not part of the U.S. Constitution, the Supreme Court in 1973 had no authority to place into law Roe v.Wade without an amendment to the Constitution.
U.S. laws originate in Congress, not the Supreme Court. Congress needed to draft an amendment to the Constitution and get three-fourths of the states to ratify the amendment before abortion rights could be part of constitutional law. Therefore, today’s Supreme Court justices who are sworn in to uphold the constitutional laws were in their rights to return abortion issues to the states.
With this said, my personal opinion is the courts - state, local, or U.S. - should not have authority over abortions. Pregnancy issues should be decided by the mothers of a baby in the womb, or the mother’s parents in case she is a minor. Unwed adult mothers should seek the council of pregnancy centers such as the Living Help in Downey where they will be advised as to which way to go - keeping and raising the baby or placing the baby up for adoption. Many young mothers thinking about abortion, once seeing the sonogram, decide against abortion.
It seems cruel to force a minor to go through nine months of pregnancy if she got pregnant by incest or rape. Ideally, all babies should be born from parents who both have the desire to love and raise the baby. But, of course, this is not an ideal world.
As was in the case of a prohibition law criminalizing drinking alcohol, consuming alcohol was done underground. Strict abortion laws will cause the mothers to seek illegal abortions which could cause harm to her body and actually destroy more lives.
Martha Morrissy
Downey
Dear Editor:
Years ago when I was a kid going to junior high school, I walked past a block-square Catholic orphanage. Years later when I repeated the walk, the orphanage was gone and a big housing tract stood in its place.
There are few, if any, Catholic orphanages in the US, leading me to conclude that Pastor Raymond Decipeda had better raise the ante on his fundraising activities.
I have no qualm with his anti-abortion position, but I don’t want unwanted babies going to foster care either, further burdening the taxpayers. The Catholic Church and others who oppose abortion do so at no cost to themselves. Let the Catholic Church and the other churches that share the same view about abortion step up to the plate and guarantee that they will provide not just the financial support that will be needed but also all the other forms of support that come along as a child grows and develops. Let them put their money where their mouths are.
To that end: I think the folks who stand out in front of the abortion facilities with their signs should be donating a good sum of money each time they show up. The money would go into an escrow account to be used for the support of the babies born by women who change their minds. I can’t see how the sign shakers would mind that a bit. Money for a cause they obviously believe in.
Muriel Schuerman
Downey