I want to respond to Terri Lovell’s opinion article of July 14, “The Left’s Obsession with Abortion.”
Ms. Lovell posits that liberals “don’t operate under a set of principles – they support causes.” She assumes that many liberals are “hysterical” over the subject of abortion and she can find no explanation other than that it makes “Democrats feel morally superior and justified in labeling their opponents…”
Amazing that Ms. Lovell is president of Santa Clarita Republican Women Federated. I would suggest that if Ms. Lovell or anyone else wants to understand the subject, they should ask — far superior to wildly inaccurate conjecture.
The liberal position on abortion is quite rational. Countries with liberal abortion laws do not experience higher abortion rates than countries with strict abortion laws.
Abortion rates in the U.S. have been declining steadily over the years following Roe v. Wade and are very close to what they were prior to Roe v. Wade today.
More significantly, abortion procedure deaths are markedly higher in countries with strict abortion laws. It is unfortunate that the right grabbed the mantle of “pro-life” because it is demonstrable that the left’s position tends to save the lives of young women who are in many instances spared horrible physical pain and equally horrible mental anguish.
Abortion rights are also arguably more in keeping with the right’s doctrine as they represent a case where the law is ineffective. The right believes in active church involvement in the lives of our citizens. There is no area for which the church could lend greater effectiveness than in counseling and supporting young women in their hour of need.
Finally, the point on which Roe v. Wade turned in the Supreme Court should appeal to the right. Anything that is part of a woman’s body should of course be handled under the domain of the woman. Certainly, there is potential other human life involved in an embryo, but every wasted egg or sperm is also a loss of human life – or at least potential life.
Slippery.
Also, the potential life initiated at pregnancy is in many cases not a choice of the woman whose body is affected. Incest, rape or abandonment by males are a huge factor in abortion decisions.
The responsible male’s body is not impacted and the responsibility, mental anguish, culpability and potential for health disaster are not in the equation for the male. It’s a woman’s domain.
Duane Mooring
Castaic
