To the Editor:
I want to offer a few corrections to the Commentary by Jennifer Boysko (D-86) in the July 6-12, 2016 edition of the Oak Hill-Herndon Connection (“Time to Stand Up to Anti-women Regulations.”)
Abortion is not a constitutional right. The word abortion does not appear in the U.S. Constitution. Abortion is a legal right granted by the Supreme Court.
The Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers was passed in several states in response to the evidence presented in the Kermit Gosnell trial.
Gosnell was an abortion provider in Philadelphia whose “clinic” had not been inspected by the Department of Health in 17 years. (A McDonald’s is inspected more often than that!)
EMTs were called to this facility because of the condition of a patient, who later died. The EMTs were unable to ring in a gurney because the corridors were too narrow. What they found was a horror: There was evidence of unsterilized instruments being used; Gosnell did not have admitting privileges in any of the local hospitals; on shelves there were jars containing bodies of aborted babies; and there was blood on the walls and floors.
State legislatures are not attempting to deny women the right to a safe abortion, their purpose is to ensure that women have access to facilities that are truly safe.
Mary Lou Ferreira
Herndon