EDITOR:

Our founders had a quaint habit of setting things down in order of importance. When Thomas Jefferson wrote about unalienable rights he put life at the top of his list. Unlike Jefferson, abortion advocates always ignore the elephant in the room, which is the life in the womb.

At the recent House 108th district candidate forum, Dave Prestin (R) said Proposal 3 would effectively repeal parental consent laws on abortion, sex change operations and puberty blockers, and would allow abortion up to the moment of birth.

In its official text, the proposed constitutional amendment gives “every individual” the “fundamental right” to make their own decisions regarding “pregnancy, sterilization, abortion” among other things. “Every individual” means adults and minor children alike. Sex-change surgeries and puberty blockers result in “sterilization”, thus, a back-door access for minors. “Fundamental” means mostly unchallengeable legally and outside the scope of parental consent.

While Prop 3 does include language allowing regulation of abortion after fetal viability, it sets the legal threshold for such regulation so high as to be unreachable. There is also a mental health loophole big enough to drive a train through. Thus, abortion through the ninth month, for any reason, at taxpayer expense.

Prestin’s opponent, Chris Lopez (D), said of Prop 3 “I support individual rights and privacy above all else”. To include minor children, I’m sure. He then repeated the falsehood that Prop 3 simply re-instates rights taken away by the repeal of Roe vs Wade. Interestingly, Roe, which was based on a woman’s right to privacy, allowed for regulation of abortion after the third month.

Remember when “safe, legal and rare” was the catch phrase of abortion advocates, while opponents howled about a slippery slope? Nowadays, “women’s health” is the preferred catchphrase for abortion on demand but, ironically, the word “woman” is replaced by the term “pregnant individual” in the text of Prop 3. I think that says a lot about the intent of the people behind this.

This letter isn’t so much about the abortion issue overall. It’s about Proposal 3, an abomination that must be defeated.

Kenneth LaMarche

Escanaba