Sir, – In your editorial of May 23rd, 2018 (“The Irish Times view on Abortion: End the secrecy and the shame”), you wrote: “The Constitution is no place for abortion. That was clear in 1983 and it is even clearer now.”
But in your editorial of June 26th (“The Irish Times view on overturning Roe v Wade”) you explicitly lament a decision by the US Supreme Court to remove the constitutional restrictions on abortion legislation.
Which is it?
Because it seems to this reader that The Irish Times’s true view on this matter is one of convenience, not principle. – Yours, etc,
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JOHN McGUIRK,
Killoscully,
Co Tipperary.
Sir, – As the inevitable “progressive” reaction unleashes against the US supreme court’s decision on Friday, may I point up the basic legal reasoning?
The tenth amendment of the US Constitution reserves to the individual states jurisdiction in all matters which are not explicitly ceded to the federal authorities.
Abortion is not explicitly ceded to the federal authorities, therefore it was never a matter for the supreme court of 1973 in the first place.
It is unfortunate that the attitude of the left is always shot through with the presumption that they are validated by history, and therefore they can override inconveniences like constitutions when it suits and we’ll all thank them later.
Many in the US who are supportive of abortion rights welcome the overturning of Roe because they understand that you can’t have a constitution which is malleable when it works against you, but rigid when working against your opponents.
The decision merely returns the issue to where it was before Roe, and where it always should have been: back to the states and their electorates and legislatures. – Yours, etc,
DAVID SMITH,
Clontarf,
Dublin 3.
Sir, – The US supreme court ruling overturning Roe v Wade has been 40 years in the making. This can be seen since Reagan’s time in office when he effectively started to deconstruct the American middle class which has in turn created eye-watering wealth disparities and divisions in the nation. Even Joe Biden has played a hand back when he oversaw the senate judiciary committee at Clarence Thomas’s supreme court nomination that heard allegations of sexual harassment from Anita Hill, and the accompanying shameful dismissals that followed.
Perhaps most crucially what has swung the pendulum is the obstructionist politics of Senator Mitch McConnell and the incredibly effective political machine he has created which has required a long-term outlook. Currently, the Democrats represent 41.5 million more people than Republicans in the US senate yet you wouldn’t know this given the current trajectory of American social issues.
All this did not happen overnight. – Yours, etc,
GEMMA HOGAN,
Abbeyleix,
Co Laois.
Sir, – On the occasion of the seismic reversal of Roe v Wade by the US supreme court, a few ironies might be worth pointing out. It’s odd to see our own activists condemning the way the matter has been taken out of the constitutional arena, for now, and handed back to the legislatures. But when it came to repeal of the eighth amendment here that’s exactly what they were campaigning for, and got their way.
They lament unelected judges making such decisions, but they also lament the judges handing the decision making away from themselves to the elected legislators.
It seems like a case of trusting democracy only when it provides the answer you wish for.
Various digs are made at the make-up of the US Supreme Court, but I don’t remember any pro-choice complaints when a far less diverse court made the original Roe v Wade decision. Weren’t they all male and mostly white? – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN O’REGAN,
Arklow,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – The overturning of Roe V Wade by the US supreme court is a sad day for all women and pregnant people across the United States.
It will lead to a total ban on all abortions in about half of the US states (often without exception for rape, women’s health and risk to life).
It also clashes with the views of the majority in American where a recent poll showed a 62.3 per cent support for the right to choose.
Around the world, many governments have been moving toward easier access to abortion, with more than 50 countries (including Ireland) liberalising their laws in the past three decades.
The move by the US supreme court puts the US in the company of countries like Poland and Nicaragua moving toward greater restrictions on legal access to abortion.
Banning abortions will not stop abortions but will make life harder and more dangerous for poor and migrant women who do not have the means to travel to access abortion.
It will also hurt, disable and endanger many people who want to carry pregnancies to full term but who encounter medical difficulties.
The Repeal campaign in Ireland shows that we can win the right to choose and now is not the time for the movement in the US to mourn, but to organise a fightback against this backlash on women’s right to full reproductive care. – Yours, etc,
BRÍD SMITH TD,
Dublin South-Central,
People Before Profit/Solidarity,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2.