Opinion: Abortion is a medical issue, not a political one

In a significant abortion ruling this week, the Supreme Court overturned Texas restrictions and strengthened the right to the procedure. As with any complicated issue, the matter is not black and white. Thoughtful, impassioned Times’ readers wrote in with comments ranging from political to medical to moral.

Among the responses:

—Sara Lessley, Letters to the Editor department

Bert Bigelow in Orange urges medical oversight:

The torrent of invective aimed at the Supreme Court makes one thing clear. The standards for medical facilities and the credentialing of the medical staff who work in them should be determined by medical authorities, not politicians. This should be a medical issue, not a political issue.

Kevin H. Park in Woodland Hills is dismayed:

… This is a sad commentary on the political differences which exist in our country and the lengths to which the Republicans will go. Even judges sitting on federal district courts in Texas developed theories stretching credulity to illegally ban access to abortions, and they are supposed to be the best and the brightest. As the minority party, the Republicans’ greed apparently knows no boundary, and their search for political support requires them to grovel in the ditch of intellectual respectability.

Don Tonty of Los Angeles is worried:

The Supreme Court decision supporting a woman’s constitutional rights should never have been necessary. It is alarming that three justices were predisposed to ignore both the evidence and the Constitution in favor of their personal bias.

In Indio, Ian Simms wonders:

What on earth were the other 3 justices thinking?

Eugene Sison of San Dimas sees a somewhat different cause:

The anti-abortion movement is more industry than it is movement.

If they spent as much time and energy promoting policies that educate men and women on the consequences of unprotected sex, the rate of unwanted pregnancy would be lower. If they supported policies that increase wages which, in turn, decrease the financial pressure of having more children, that too would have helped. Instead, they attack women. Let’s just say any industry wants to survive. They’re fundraising as you read this.

Mary Anne Cogbill in San Marino speaks up for the unborn:

Many of us believe a woman can make decisions about her own body but … this new life has rights too. Maybe it is time for the woman to protect herself so she does not have to destroy a life.

To Nathan Post in Santa Barbara, it’s a moral matter:

Abortion, I believe, is liberalism’s Achilles heel. It is the one issue that makes a mockery of nearly everything liberals claim to believe. Liberals have turned abortion into a great cause -- seemingly appalled by anyone opposed. This issue will not go away soon, not as long as there are moral men and women who believe in doing what is right.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook