Letters to the Editor: Women remember what it was like before Roe vs. Wade. We can’t go back
To the editor: Every woman in this country should be concerned about the Supreme Court agreeing to hear the Mississippi abortion case. (“Why I’m telling my abortion story now,” Opinion, April 18)
In 1967, my 47-year-old mother was pregnant. She was desperate to abort the fetus, but abortion was illegal then. So one night, my parents went to a motel room in Detroit and met up with a stranger who performed the abortion. She ended up in the emergency room the next day and thankfully survived.
In 1985, I found myself in the same predicament. Although I was very fond of my partner, it was very early in our relationship, and having a child just was not feasible. The procedure was done in a hospital, and although it was an emotionally difficult decision to make, I suffered no physical effects afterward.
One must assume that should Roe vs. Wade be overturned, there will always be ways for women to end their pregnancies. The wealthier ones could travel far away; others could order a medication online or try remedies such as wire hangers, back alleys, motel rooms and the like.
The fact that women’s bodies are legislated at any level is abhorrent to me. We have fought too hard for too long and come too far to be cast back 50 years. I urge all like-minded women and men to take a stand on this issue.
Barbara Knowles Hanson, Bloomington, Minn.
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To the editor: As president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, op-ed article author Jodi Hicks presides over a network of establishments where two go in and only one comes back.
She deplores cruel and extreme bans threatening the termination of a life. But she obfuscates the matter by applying her arguments to only one of the two involved in this destruction.
She also sidesteps the first key one: What is a human person? A man and a woman generate a new life, but her personhood and rights are conditional.
Orwell’s Ministry of Truth is well and alive in the author’s mystifying logic.
Maria Elena de las Carreras, Northridge
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To the editor: I appreciate Hicks’ bravery in sharing her story, but what she is asking of women is a lot — too much, perhaps.
She listed all of the laws that are changing and bringing us closer to making the theocratic Gilead of “The Handmaid’s Tale” a reality. If our reality becomes anything like that, how long will each woman who tells her abortion story have before she is arrested?
For every small step I see in what I hope is our culture moving away from shame (with abortion, LBGTQ rights and other issues), there is a giant leap in the wrong direction with legislation. I believe Hicks deserves the good life she has, but what if people who disagree are voted into office?
Anne-Marie Linas, San Clemente
