What are true motives of those who oppose choice?

The repeal of Roe would reactivate old Illinois abortion laws never taken off the books. In compliance with majority will, Illinois is trying to clean this up to avoid making abortion (and possibly some forms of contraception) illegal if theocracy overturns Roe.

Predictably, the anti-choice brigade is out in force, opposing individual freedom and promoting big government interference. Laws only address viability, not when life begins; that's a function of belief systems. End of life laws are based on higher level cognitive functions (not presence of a heartbeat as some state laws wish to declare for the beginning of life). Research presently indicates earliest evidence of thalamocortical connections required for conscious perception of stimuli (pain, for example), not appearing until 29-30 weeks gestation.

In a country welcoming a diversity of belief, law is based on consensus and science. No one can impose his/her beliefs on others. Abortion prior to the third trimester is a personal medical decision for a woman based on her own beliefs. Third-term abortion is rightly regulated, but not outlawed, because if a woman needs lifesaving measures (even if it would abort a fetus), she should get them. Nor should a woman be forced against her will to carry a fetus with abnormalities incompatible with life.

I would rather see the anti-choice brigade devote their considerable energy to stopping family separation at the border … or ensure a social safety net to feed, clothe, and educate all of our already-born children. In actuality, America is becoming a more hostile place to raise children, with little energy devoted to changing this situation. It makes me wonder about the motives of people so bent on forcing their beliefs about potential human life onto others, rather than making life better for the actual humans already here.

Barbara Muehlhausen

Schaumburg