Planned Parenthood misleads on abortion

First, she refers to a “sinister” promise from the president to appoint justices to the Supreme Court who would overturn Roe v. Wade. Regardless of your own personal thoughts on Roe v. Wade, how can the saving of human life be considered sinister? It would be like saying that President Abraham Lincoln kept a sinister promise in 1864 to abolish slavery and issue the Emancipation Proclamation. 

Second, she erroneously refers to Roe v. Wade as “the case that created a constitutional right to abortion.” Leriche fails to realize that court cases do not create our rights; our Constitution merely recognizes those rights with which we have already been endowed by our creator. 

Third, Leriche says that the purpose of the newly-filled seat on the Supreme Court is to restrict reproductive health care and rights. Can she please tell us who is truly trying to restrict anyone from receiving genuine reproductive health care? Unless, of course, you completely misconstrue the phrase reproductive health care to mean the unrestricted freedom to kill preborn children once reproduction has already taken place. However, her failure to mention the grave physical, mental and emotional dangers to the health of the girls and women who are considering abortion, as well as minimizing or denying its consequences, is actually the antithesis of true health care.

Fourth, Leriche decries Justice Barrett’s agreement with the statement that Roe v. Wade created a barbaric legacy. Has Leriche ever watched an abortion? If we dare to face this truth, and watch any of the numerous resources which graphically depict what is being done to the babies, barbaric would probably be a mild word used to describe it. Heartbreaking, horrific, brutal and unconscionable might be some of the stronger words you would use. Leriche’s criticism of the word barbaric when referring to abortion would be like condemning the use of the word barbaric by anyone who has seen footage of what was done to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust.

Fifth, her statement, “Roe v. Wade has been law for more than 45 years” is patently false. Supreme Court decisions and opinions are simply those; they are not laws. The authority to make laws is granted not to the judicial branch, but to the legislative branch.

Sixth, Leriche states that “Black and brown communities (have been) forced to navigate a legacy of systemic racism and discriminatory policies.” She fails to mention that Planned Parenthood was founded on racist purposes and to implement discriminatory policies, one of which was to selectively diminish the Black population?

Did you know that a disproportionately greater number of Black babies are aborted as compared to white babies, and that there are more Black babies aborted in New York City than are born alive? Does Leriche really expect us to believe that minority access to abortion is restricted? On the contrary, it is in predominantly minority urban neighborhoods that many of Planned Parenthood’s abortion facilities are located as its racist policies continue.

Seventh, Leriche refers to abortion as a constitutional right. Yet she fails to mention how our constitution grants us the right to kill preborn children.

Next, she says that Vermonters deserve the strongest legal protections possible. But what about legal protection for the babies? Tragically, this protection was already removed from them when Gov. Phil Scott signed H.57 into law on June 10, 2019. Prop 5 would further compound this injustice and evil.

Next, Leriche specifically enumerates the wording of Prop 5, clearly revealing that abortion is its real intent. Do the sponsors of this proposal really believe that the right to choose to become pregnant or carry a pregnancy to term, the right to choose or refuse a vasectomy or sterilization, or the right to choose or refuse contraception are being threatened or issues that even exist, let alone those worthy of the creation of a constitutional amendment to protect them? Don’t be fooled. The purpose of the extraneous wording is to distract attention away from the true purpose of Prop 5: the right to choose abortion.  

Next, she further quotes from the text of Prop 5: “That an individual’s right to personal reproductive autonomy is central to the liberty and dignity to determine one’s own life course and shall not be denied or infringed.” That’s fine, until your life course creates a head-on collision that ends the life course of defenseless babies, and denies and infringes their liberty and dignity.

Next, Leriche states that “Prop 5 will protect the reproductive liberty and dignity of every person who calls Vermont home.” Every person except the preborn children whose inherent dignity and liberty are not being protected.

Last, Leriche says that “it’s critical that we pass Prop 5 to counter-act the hostility toward reproductive liberty.” The fact remains that there is no threat to anyone’s reproductive liberty. This deceptive wording simply belies the purpose of Prop 5: the government-sanctioned hostility toward and murder of preborn babies.

We must vote no to Prop 5 on Election Day 2022.

Martin Green lives in Morrisville.