In response to the Oct 1, 2022 letter-to-the editor regarding Proposition 3, several of the points made are incomplete and/or incorrect. Let me clear them up.

Prop. 3 restores the same rights we had under Roe v Wade for 50 years. Prop. 3, added to our State Constitution, gives the broad rights to citizens to make their own private pregnancy medical decisions. Prop. 3 also specifically gives the state the ability to limit these rights in certain circumstances.

In response to the description of late-stage abortion in the Oct 1 letter, here are facts. Late-stage abortion is incredibly rare (fewer than 1% of all abortions nationwide) and is performed as a result of either fetal anomalies that will prevent the fetus from living outside of the mother’s body or anomalies that have already ended the fetus’ life in utero. A mother’s body doesn’t always naturally deliver a fetus that has died and intervention becomes necessary to protect her life.

Just like our First Amendment rights to free speech give us freedom from government persecution for speaking our opinions, 1A doesn’t give citizens the right to ‘Yell FIRE in a crowded theater’ to use the classic example. There are limits to free speech to preserve the safety and freedoms of other people. Prop. 3 will be limited the same way Roe was with respect to parental consent, medical standards of care, patient safety, and physician licensing. None of these aspects of healthcare are changed by Prop 3.

Prop. 3 is common sense; it puts back what was in place in Michigan for decades. It gives women peace of mind, knowing that their safety and health are paramount to their own decisions around pregnancy. Prop. 3 also protects Michigan citizens’ rights to contraception, IVF, miscarriage care, and pre/post-natal care-all aspects of pregnancy in addition to abortion care.

CATHY GOIKE,

Alpena