Three issues about the abortion debate that make me wonder why it is a debate at all:

1. Bodily autonomy. Even after death you have the right over what happens to your body, with the exceptions of mental incompetence or government-sanctioned execution. Even after death your organs cannot be donated without your previous well-documented consent. How is it possible for law to override this right for living people?

2. Religious freedom is guaranteed by the First Amendment, yet most arguments make wild assumptions about the origin of a person’s soul (which is not a legal concept), often disguised as the start of life, but there is no agreement among religions or science when that occurs. Any attempt to do so before live birth is a violation of religious freedom.

3. Practicing medicine without a license is illegal in every state. Lawmakers, attorneys general and the Supreme Court are all making life-altering and often life-threatening medical decisions for people even though they are not medical providers and without consent of the people involved. How is this legal?

Jennifer Booker

Waipahu

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