Abortion activists protests outside the Supreme Court, Dec. 1, 2021.

Photo: samuel corum/Shutterstock

In “The End of Roe Will Be Good for America” (Declarations, May 7), Peggy Noonan argues that the acrimony caused by Roe v. Wade (1973) will be lessened if decisions are left to voters in the states. It isn’t clear why changing the venue of the decision will help, but once you decide to let people vote on whether to legalize abortion, why not let each woman be sovereign? Let each woman decide for herself whether she supports abortion.

Ruth Gass

San Francisco

I was a lifelong pro-choice Democrat. I paid for two friends’ abortions and escorted one through protesters outside the clinic. Then I became pregnant, and at 16 weeks I had an amniocentesis test in which my doctor inserted a long needle into my abdomen. He had to insert it four times to avoid the fetus, who kept swimming toward it. The doctor laughed and used the words “daredevil” and “risk taker.” His words left no doubt that at 16 weeks, she already had her own personality. That was the moment I became pro-life and, also, a Republican. The Democrats left me no choice.

Joan Dash

Ballston Spa, N.Y.

I lived through a time when abortion was illegal. The law didn’t stop women or girls from obtaining abortions. The ones with money left the country for the procedure; the ones with no money had to play with the cards they were dealt. Many died trying to obtain the procedure. It wasn’t pretty. Is this what we want in 2022?

Janice Latman

Franklin Lakes, N.J.

As an endocrinologist, I treated many women for infertility who were desperate to become pregnant. I also saw many who used abortion for birth control, including an employee who told me she was taking days off to have her fourth abortion. I thought the advent of birth-control and morning-after pills would alleviate the need for this archaic practice, but I was wrong.

The government should provide free birth-control pills to women in the states that limit abortion. This could also be the balm to help quell the abortion controversy that has torn America apart for 50 years.

H. Jack Baskin,

M.D.

Winter Park, Fla.

Since Roe is about death, I don’t agree with Ms. Noonan that I need to respect the opposing view. Excepting rape, pregnancy can easily be avoided. Expecting me to respect selfishness (my body, my choice) and the killing of those dividing, living cells goes, well, against life, in the vast majority of cases.

Patricia Haldeman

Williamsburg, Va.

As an obstetrician who practiced for 25 years, I recognize that one can hold in mind two competing ideas simultaneously: that a wanted, healthy pregnancy is an amazing gift, and that an unwanted, rape-caused, abnormal or dangerous pregnancy is a curse.

Many women I’ve treated have felt opposite feelings about their own pregnancies, depending on the circumstances. I’ve seen very, very few women who made these decisions lightly. By all means, we need much more compassion and support for poor mothers and those with profoundly disabled children. We also need much more responsibility from the impregnators. But let’s let women decide how to deal with a pregnancy, especially before viability.

Dawna Eastman-Gallo

Golden, Colo.