Readers comment on Roe v. Wade being overturned, animal shelter overcrowding and more
Reflections on Roe v. Wade
Like most legal decisions, this week’s draft opinion on Roe v. Wade starts from a point of view and then uses legal arguments to justify the outcome.
The five justices state that Roe was wrongly decided; that it is based on a right to privacy that does not exist in the Constitution. Even though I am personally pro-choice, I think they are correct that Roe was wrongly decided. But that doesn’t mean that abortion should be left to the states or, as implied in the draft decision, that it can be banned nationwide by an act of Congress.
The fundamental issue is whether any government has the right to prevent a woman from controlling her own body. The conservative majority says the state can ban abortion because the state is protecting the life of the unborn. This argument appears nowhere in the Constitution and is at odds with what the drafters of the Constitution actually believed. The common belief at the times was that life begins at quickening, which is around 17 weeks after conception.
After being saddled with the right decision for the wrong reasons in Roe, we are now saddled with the wrong decision for mostly moral or religious reasons. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait 50 years to rectify yet another judicial error.
David Shapiro, Gainesville
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Another option for dogs
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
The county commissioners have $23 million, several thousand acres of unused wild space and an oversupply of sheltered dogs whose fate they are very concerned about.
They hired a consultant who advised them the best lemonade they could make out of their situation would be to buy more land and build a $23 million shelter to house more dogs.
How about taking 300 acres of the wild space, use $1 million of the $23 million, buy chain-link fencing and material to build barn-like structures, separate the dogs into compatible groups and let them roam in the new County Dog Park?
With the proper administration, such a park could become a very popular attraction. At worst it would be a habitat where dogs that are facing a bleak future in a shelter get to roam free on a large, open-air, professionally managed compound.
The San Diego zoo had a problem with excess animals and they used county land and turned the problem into what has become the Wild Animal Park — a park that conducts daily tours that net the county a nice revenue stream while solving the zoo overcrowding problem. See the possibilities, commissioners?
Anthony Johnson, Gainesville
Tell the truth
As our Trump-loving governor continues his assault on democracy, we sit back and watch. From CRT and book selection for students to congressional redistricting and Don’t Say Gay, etc., we watch.
Ron DeSantis doesn’t want to make white kids uncomfortable in class. We have made children of color uncomfortable for hundreds of years. Our shared history should be told truthfully. The kids are fine; it’s the parents that can’t handle the truth.
The freedoms we enjoy collectively are being eroded by DeSantis and his followers. If Joe Biden and his administration are not doing a good job, vote them out. Don’t tell me how to think, what to read and how to interrupt our past.
Sheep love to follow. Stand up and be counted.
Martin Werts, Archer
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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Letters to the editor for May 5, 2022: Overturning Roe v. Wade, more
