Letters- Your Voice – for Saturday, December 23, 2023

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Three points regarding abortion

Three issues about the abortion debate which make me wonder why it is a debate at all.

1. Bodily autonomy. Even after death, you have the right over what happens to your body, with the exceptions of mental incompetence or government-sanctioned execution.

Even after death, your organs cannot be donated without your previous well-documented consent. How is it possible for law to override this right for living people?

2. Religious freedom is guaranteed by the First Amendment, yet most arguments make wild assumptions about the origin of a person’s soul (which is not a legal concept), often disguised as the start of life, but there is no agreement among religions or science when that occurs.

Any attempt to do so before live birth is a violation of religious freedom.

3. Practicing medicine without a license is illegal in every state. Lawmakers, attorneys general, and the Supreme Court are all making life-altering and often life-threatening medical decisions for people, even though they are not medical providers and without consent of the people involved.

How is this legal?

Jennifer Booker

Waipahu, Oahu

Dancing around the issue of age

I continue to be disappointed at how progressives, liberals, conservatives, Democrats and Republicans dance around the issue of President Biden’s age as a critical factor in our 2024 presidential election.

The leading Republican candidate, Donald Trump, is approaching 80 years of age. The leading Democratic candidate is 80 years old.

Uh … oh, yeah. We need a younger, vital guy in office. What happens if the incumbent dies and — oh, my god! — Kamala Harris is president?!

Therein lies the dilemma: Is America ready for a Black woman president?

We know Trump’s and the Republicans’ response. What’s everyone else’s response?

Michael Grigsby

Keaau