Letters to the editor for Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Justices out of touch with reality

I never thought I could be angrier about laws controlling women’s bodies than I was in 1970 at the age of 20. But here we are again.

The majority justices are remarkably out of touch with the realities of U.S. women’s lives and rights today. Quotes from the leaked draft majority opinion by Judge Alito demonstrate his dismissive attitude toward the burdens of pregnancy on women. He argues that “attitudes about the pregnancy of unmarried women have changed drastically, that leave for pregnancy and childbirth are now guaranteed by law in many cases, that the costs of medical care associated with pregnancy are covered by insurance or government assistance.”

In fact, the U.S. is one of only seven countries in the world without national paid maternity leave. The average length of the paid leave offered elsewhere is 29 weeks. It’s also inaccurate to say that pregnancy-related leave is available “in many cases,” as only 10 states out of 50 have passed laws mandating paid family leave.

Regarding pregnancy care, huge racial disparities exist in the quality and availability of that care. Black women in the U.S. are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women. These disparities have become more severe over the last 30 years.

As we continue to move backward, more U.S. women will die from botched abortions and pregnancy-related complications. A majority of Americans (and Floridians) support access to abortion care.

Time to get loud and angry again.

Lisa Freund, Naples

Leaker showed courage, not Alito

I am responding to the “Your Turn” editorial in the Sunday May 8 edition of the Naples Daily News with the headline “Alito’s draft opinion is clear and courageous.” Courage implies risk. What is the risk to a Supreme Court justice who has a lifetime appointment and physical security in expressing his opinion? Right or wrong, pro-life or pro-choice, the person who leaked the document showed courage.

Carol Montgomery, Naples

The real toll of abortions

Here’s a fact regarding the real toll of legalized abortions in the U.S. from the Roe v. Wade case: Since 1973 there have been well over 63 million abortions in our nation. This is verified by the National Right to Life Committee, tracking data from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, and the Guttmacher Institute, a research arm of Planned Parenthood, America’s foremost abortion provider. Compare these 63 million aborted babies to the present population of France: 65,538,587 at last count. If all French people were wiped from the face of this planet, what would be the worldwide reaction? No one would stand by and let that happen!

Numbers are one thing, but what is the real Roe v. Wade abortion toll? With what great cultural and scientific achievements could any of those babies have enriched us? How great the loss in potential from the unborn entrepreneurs, doctors, poets, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters? How many great teachers never to inspire the lives of future generations?

The Preamble to America’s Declaration of Independence puts the “Right to Life” first among all inalienable rights. The false narrative of the pro-abortion movement is the so-called “right to privacy” which you will not find in the Constitution. Roe v. Wade was a flawed case that should have been overturned long ago. It should never have been an open the door to a wholesale slaughter of the unborn.

Mary Ann Louis, Bonita Springs

Authoritarian overreach

Frightening times are ahead. The party of “smaller government” is prepared to reach into our homes, our doctor’s offices, our privacy, our liberty, even our mail in pursuit of denying women authority over their pregnancies.

This authoritarian stretch into our private lives will be made possible due to a Supreme Court draft document which contends that abortion rights were erroneous to begin with, not having been mentioned in the Constitution and not “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition.” This throws precedent out the window, disregarding our Right to Privacy in the Constitution’s due process clause, and our deeply rooted historical and traditional right to Life and Liberty.

What is “deeply rooted in our Nation’s history and tradition”? Well, slavery for one. If they can take away one constitutional right, they can certainly take away another. Perhaps emancipation was similarly erroneous? Denying women the vote is deeply rooted in our history. That can be tossed. Children aren’t mentioned in the Constitution; can child labor be restored? The same can said for interracial marriage, same sex marriage, and other constitutional rights.

Texas is now preparing a challenge to the ruling requiring providing public education to all children. The Constitution doesn’t mention education so perhaps states shall decide to educate only some children, or perhaps none at all. Louisiana is preparing to reclassify abortion as a homicide, making the penalty for abortion more severe than the penalty for rape or incest.

A solid majority of Americans want all these rights to remain, so democracy is also gone. Democracy is majority rule; the “consent of the governed.”

Susan McGuire, Bokeelia

Collier District 2 no longer open primary

Florida has a closed primary system. There are now candidates registered in Collier County Commission District 2 representing two political parties – Republican (7) and No Party Affiliation (NPA) (1). If you are registered as a Democratic or an NPA voter and want to vote in the Republican primary, which is where your candidate will be elected, you will need to temporarily register as a Republican. This can be done at the Supervisor of Elections for Collier County’s website, colliervotes.gov, or in person at one of the government centers. It takes only a minute but may save you being frustrated and unable to vote in this primary on election day. This must be done before July 25. The primary is scheduled for August 23. Immediately after the primary, you can return to your usual registration status.

Judith Hushon, Naples

Put some of the burden on men

Regarding of the potential overturn of Roe v. Wade, I see nothing about the other half of the equation – men. It takes sperm to make a baby and women can’t get pregnant without it.

Why is all the focus on regulating women’s bodies and nothing of men’s bodies and men’s choices? We think nothing of taking women’s’ rights away.

We could require men to use birth control. We could require men to get a vasectomy after creating a set number of children.

We could fine men substantial penalties for making women pregnant who don’t wish to have a baby. We could force men to raise children with their DNA. If we want to legislate and regulate the control of women’s bodies, why do we not contemplate the same for men?

It’s shame. We like to shame and blame women for getting pregnant and having sex. By virtue of human procreation, we shoulder women with the primary responsibility for birth control and raising children. It’s a ludicrous perspective. Why shouldn’t men have the same rights as women? Let’s control their chances of creating a pregnancy. Let’s force men to get vasectomies after a certain number of children. Let’s make men responsible for raising their own children in the man’s home, not the mother’s, if they aren’t a couple. I see nothing written about regulating male bodies and setting child rearing and financial expectations of men.

It’s fallacy when we only look at 50 percent of the equation.

Ann Houser, Naples

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Letters to the editor for Tuesday, May 10, 2022