Opinion: Abortion is medical treatment, and the government has no right to deny one to a woman

To the editor: The agency overseeing refugee affairs won’t allow Jane Doe, a pregnant 17-year-old Central American refugee, to undergo an abortion pending a court hearing on her immigration status. Why? The agency disingenuously claims that it opposes the U.S. becoming a “sanctuary for taxpayer-supported abortions” through minors’ illegal border crossings. (“Young, pregnant migrant’s case becomes a test of Trump policies on abortion and immigration,” Oct. 19)

Really? What if a professed refugee were a male with an urgent medical condition — say, a fast-growing testicular cancer — and he was kept confined without access to oncologists pending a hearing on his status? Should he be kept confined to the point at which he suffers harm from delayed access to medical care? Would it matter if the court ultimately found that this refugee had entered the U.S. solely to seek better treatment than was available in his home country?

Neither logic nor applicable law will dissuade the Trump administration from its ceaseless misogynistic affronts.

Roberta Helms, Santa Barbara

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To the editor: The fish rots from the head, as they say, so it shouldn’t be shocking that a Trump appointee would use the power of his office to impose personal religious beliefs on others.

Conservative or a liberal, Democrat or a Republican, if we ignore those who achieve their ends by ignoring the law, it will cost us dearly. There is no telling who they will come for next, and the law is our only protection.

Bart Braverman, Indio

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