Roe v. Wade anniversary a time to be vigilant
January 17, 2013 5:40PM
Updated: February 19, 2013 2:56PM
Roe v. Wade 40th anniversary is a time to be vigilant against apathy
Jan. 22 is the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.
Medically safe, legal abortion has had a profound impact on American women and their families. The right to make childbearing decisions has enabled women to pursue educational and employment opportunities that were once unthinkable, but are now considered essential to our nation’s economic well-being.
In 1992, the Supreme Court noted that “the ability of women to participate equally in the economic and social life of the Nation has been facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive lives.” Justice Blackmun, who wrote the Roe v. Wade decision, called it, “a step that had to be taken as we go down the road toward the full emancipation of women.”
If the Supreme Court soon revisits and reverses the decision on abortion, women’s last bastion for the right to choose will be their state legislatures. It is extremely important for every pro-choice citizen of Illinois to vote for pro-choice candidates in every primary and general election. The consequences of voter apathy in this regard will be disastrous for women and for Illinois’ economy.
Sheila Feeney
Algonquin
Hurricane disaster relief bill is a disaster in itself because of pork
If there is one thing Congress loves to do, it is load up emergency relief bills with pork.
Despite a $16.5 trillion debt and a $1.3 trillion deficit, the new Congress loaded up the $60 billion Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Bill with pork.
In the bill, Democrats and Republicans included the following pork: $58.8 million for forest restoration on private land; $150 million for Alaskan fisheries; $2 million to the Smithsonian for roof repairs; $197 million to protect coastal ecosystems; $10.78 billion for public transportation. This is just some of the pork that can be found in the bill.
And who is going to pay for the pork in a bill called a disaster relief bill? The poor, dumb taxpayers, of course.
But then, we only have ourselves to blame because we continue to re-elect the representatives responsible for treating our tax dollars as if they were monopoly money.
Taxpayers who desperately need tax relief will watch as more of their tax dollars are wasted on pork barrel projects. What fools we are.
Victor Darst
West Dundee
