Confusion shows in letter about rights

Susan Schafer, in her recent letter, seems a bit confused. She says: "However, abortion is a right given to women by the Supreme Court. Why do men even weigh in on this issue?"

First of all, if I understand the meaning of the word correctly, no one, not even the Supreme Court, can "give" a right. They can agree that something is indeed a right, but they cannot give it. Here in America, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Second, if I also have my history right, the Supreme Court that "gave" us abortion was comprised of the following: William J. Brennan, Jr., William O. Douglas, Potter Stewart, Byron R. White, Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., William H. Rehnquist and Warren E. Burger. Notice anything there, Sue? They are all men, every one of them. So if it really does bother people when men "weigh in on this issue," perhaps we should toss out Roe v. Wade and start all over again.

John Babush

Big Rock