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Letter: Roe v. Wade drew on conclusions of legal and medical specialists. What’s changed?

(Gemunu Amarasinghe | AP) Abortion-rights protesters regroup and protest following Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in Washington, Friday, June 24, 2022. The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years, a decision by its conservative majority to overturn the court's landmark abortion cases.

While reading “Scientific American,” I was reminded that in their magazine, 50 years ago, 1973, they were illuminating the merits of the passage of Roe v. Wade.

Being based on science, the article spoke in facts, not religious doctrine or faith. And a Supreme Court which decided that the right to privacy implied in the 14th Amendment protected abortion as a “fundamental right.” Rights that are questioned and considered counterintuitive today.

Saying, “In the U.S., abortion will henceforth be regulated on the basis of medical standards and practices, rather than according to socio-religious principles enforced by criminal law.” Conclusions based on evidence by legal and medical specialists, after passage by Supreme Court’s January decision.

The court held that abortion is so safe in the first three months of pregnancy that states may not interfere at all with the decision by a woman and her physician. It also found that “abortion should be treated like any other medical procedure and regulated by the medical profession.”

Fast forward, June 24, 2022, Roe v. Wade overturned. So, what’s changed?

Robert Hoff, Taylorsville

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