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"The makers of our Constitution undertook to secure conditions favorable to the pursuit of happiness. They recognized the significance of man's spiritual nature, of his feelings and of his intellect . . . They sought to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions, and their sensations. They conferred as against the government the right to be left alone - the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men." So said Justice Brandeis.* This case involved the issue of wiretapping but as far as many are concerned, his words are very apropos to the discussion of abortion.

Is the right to an abortion a religious decision? Some say "Yes." but the question becomes "Do I have the right to impose my religious belief on another?" The Founders did not think so.

Many, on either side of the issue, believe it is a moral choice. Whose morals? The conservative right and the liberal left have divergent thoughts on the question. It is God's decision, not man, says the Christian Right. It is man and not God's, says the Left. (Not including those who say there is no God or that it is woman's decision, not man's.)

Justice Wendell Holmes said "The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins." * Does this apply equally to a woman's uterus? Do I, as an individual or a government, have the right to intervene/interfere with the decisions a woman makes in the private, protected office of her doctor or in the private protected conversations with spouse or partner?

Do we have the right to tell a rape or incest victim who is victimized again by pregnancy that she must carry that pregnancy to term? This deprives her of the liberty to choose what to do with her body (after someone else has already taken control of it for the purposes of unlawful sex). This may deprive her of happiness; the forced carrying to term the product of an unthinkable event. It could even deprive her of her life, given that childbirth and pregnancy carries some potentially lethal complications and risks.

Some may say that I, as someone who has not been pregnant, should be quiet on the issue. It begs the question of why men should be the ones to make the laws about when and how a woman handles an unintended (and let's remember - even the pill and condoms are not 100% foolproof) pregnancy.

The right to be left alone in mind, spirit and body, this right to life, liberty, and happiness, these most valued American and constitutionally assured rights should be paramount in the issue of abortion.

The State's rights and intrusions should end where a woman's body begins.

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* http://www.smartcommunities.or g/library_alone.htm
*http://www .brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes /o/oliverwend103754.html

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