Change of law will not end abortions

On June 30, the Daily Herald published an article on the possible overturning of Roe v. Wade. I find this an extremely important topic because what a lot of people that are in favor of overturning Roe don't realize is that no one can end abortions. The only thing that will end will be access to safe abortions, and that will do more harm than good.

Overturning Roe will either result in many women doing things to harm themselves in an effort to terminate a pregnancy or women carrying unplanned pregnancies to term and then giving birth to unwanted babies, many of whom will not be given up for possible adoption into loving families but will be added to the rolls of unwanted, neglected and abused children living out the dysfunctions of those adults who are supposed to be parenting.

As a citizen and a woman, this concerns me, because as it is, there are already more than 15,000 kids who are wards of the state in Illinois, and that's with abortion being legal. One thing people don't realize is that to be a person identifying as "pro-choice" does not mean you support abortion, but rather you are respecting a woman's right to choose for herself.

Something that would make a difference is for people to come out this November to vote for the smaller offices. The current Illinois Sixth Congressional District congressman, Peter Roskam, has identified as pro-life and will most likely support the overturning of Roe v. Wade, whereas his challenger, Sean Casten, has spoken about getting women full reproductive rights. In order to keep this country from taking back a woman's right to choose, after we spent so long fighting for them, we need to stop just talking and start walking, to the polls.

Melissa Wallace

Palatine