To the Editor:
The Supreme Court's decision to uphold a ban on so-called partial birth abortions is a disgraceful and deadly infringement of a woman's right to her life and liberty.
Neither Congress nor the Supreme Court has any business determining what procedures are medically appropriate in performing abortions. Doctors, not politicians or judges, should make this determination, and women should be free to consider and accept their doctors' advice.
An individual's right to life and liberty includes a woman's right to end her pregnancy - and to do it by whatever medical procedure she believes will lessen the risks to her health and her life.
The precedent set by this Supreme Court's decision has established that the right of a woman to an abortion is not absolute, even if her health is at risk. And that violation of individual rights is a very, very dangerous precedent.
-David Holcberg
Ayn Rand Institute