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Sure, let’s talk about personal rights — with COVID-19, but with abortion, too

How to frame the abortion debate

I note some people, regarding the Supreme Court cases on abortion, argue that their rights shouldn’t be restricted but also argue for mask and vaccine requirements, which similarly restrict others’ rights.

The fact is, virtually all laws restrict someone’s rights, generally in favor of the rights of others. When the law forbids theft or murder, for example, it restricts the thief’s or murderer’s rights in favor of the property owner’s or another’s life.

So, the real issue for abortion is, is there somebody else’s “life” that needs to be taken into account?

- Thomas F. Harkins Jr., Fort Worth

‘Constitutional’ subject to change

A Dec. 2 letter writer (9A) asserted that “abortion is a constitutional right, whether a Supreme Court justice personally agrees with it or not” and that “the only thing that matters is what is on paper.”

Apparently she doesn’t realize that the “constitutional right” to an abortion was not written into the Constitution or passed subsequently as a constitutional amendment. It was interpreted as a “constitutional right” by a group of Supreme Court justices in 1973.

What is merely interpreted as constitutional can later be interpreted as unconstitutional. A perfect example is Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, which upheld the doctrine of “separate but equal” but was overturned by the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.

- Mike Jones, Fort Worth

This is my personal decision

I find it disgusting that Supreme Court justices are deciding my personal rights to obtain an abortion. It is not in their purview. Our society has gone so far wrong in the last five years.

- Gretchen Lyne, Grapevine

Here’s a big contradiction

So, Republicans want to ban abortions, ostensibly to save unborn babies. But they also want to ban COVID-19 vaccine mandates that would help eradicate a disease that has already killed almost 800,000 Americans and continues to kill.

So, are they a pro-life or pro-death party?

- Blake K. Wallace, Arlington

No need to ban assault rifles

Would the community be any safer without assault rifles? Democrats pitch the idea that assault weapons are a major cause of homicide in the United States. But if you look at FBI statistics, you will see that far more homicides are from handguns.

So, should we ban all guns, or should we educate people on weapons and how to safely keep them from children and unstable adults?

Instead of banning guns, we should prohibit people who may be a danger to society from owning weapons, such as those with mental illness and convicted criminals.

- Yaqeen M. Aburous, Little Elm

It’s a question of performance

In response to a letter writer wondering why a shortstop should be paid more than the president, we can quote Babe Ruth. When Ruth was asked if he thought he deserved to make more money than President Herbert Hoover, he said, “I had a better year than he did.”

- Ray Harris, Fort Worth

But what about Maxine Waters?

John M. Crisp, in his Dec. 1 commentary, “How vigilantism became linked to the GOP brand,” (11A) conveniently neglected to mention that outrageous behavior is hardly a one-way street.

Recall Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters saying about Trump administration officials: “Let’s make sure we show up wherever we have to show up. And if you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd. And you push back on them. And you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”

The hypocrisy of the liberal press never ceases.

- Mark Swanson, Mansfield

A hole in our COVID protection

Andy Slavitt’s Nov. 18 column, “The pandemic is not done yet, but we have tools to stay safe,” (9A) stated that “borders are now open to vaccinated international travelers.” But thousands of international “travelers” coming across the U.S. southern border are not tested or required to show proof of vaccination. The hypocrisy of required vaccinations virtually everywhere except the southern border is appalling.

- Mark Swanson, Mansfield