Abortion funding debate is really about legality

TO THE EDITOR:

I am writing in response to the letters from Nov. 16 about abortion insurance coverage (“Rights of child should be considered in debate” and “Abortion should not be covered by health care”).

I feel that both Jody Upright’s and Kristian Doty’s arguments are missing the point. The point is that abortion is already legal. It’s already a choice I and every other woman have. So let’s not make this about “the murder of an innocent human being,” because by law, before fetal viability, it’s not.

And until Roe v. Wade is overturned, this argument has no place in the health care debate. Each woman has the right to make this moral decision for herself, and whether you choose to see abortion as a choice for you or not, by law that choice does exist.

The biggest point — which belongs in this debate — is that the group of women who can’t pay for abortions and private insurance are the women that are more likely to be unable to support a child financially. Low-income women with limited resources may not be able to fork over the money out-of-pocket.

It’s easy for those in opposition to say women who want abortions should pay for it themselves. The reality is that a lot of women can’t. And they deserve the same choice the rest of us have.



Emily Owens
Junior
Chemistry