Abortion is a decision that as a man I cannot imagine what it is like with all its consequences. The final decision belongs to just one person, the woman. Former President Trump brags about overturning Roe v. Wade and that it is a state’s rights issue. To me that is misogynistic. We know our country’s history of voting rights and how individual states repressed the right to vote if you were an African American — in many cases violently. It took the passage and enforcement of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to ensure the constitutional right to vote without discrimination. Transferring the right to make a personal health care decision concerning abortion to the states is an insult to my intelligence and must be offensive to women. To me, women’s right to make their own health decisions is a national issue, not a state’s rights issue.

I refuse to have our state dictate my medical decisions. A federal right for women has been taken away by Trump, Republicans, and their Supreme Court nominees. Sen. Collins said Kavanaugh “misled” her about his position on respecting the precedent of Roe. That does the women in our country a lot of good now.

Republicans claim they are pro-life and the party of individual freedom. Being pro-life means supporting Obamacare, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, strong gun safety, strong environmental laws, and employee safety laws, to mention just a few that are truly pro-life legislation. Individual freedom was taken away from women. Republicans want to go back to the 50s, the 1850s.

The right to make a personal health decision is not just a man’s right, it is everyone’s right in our country.

Mike Grove

Belgrade Lakes