To the editor: In his column on Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis' campaign for governor, columnist Mark Z. Barabak writes, “Legal abortion is not even remotely at risk in California.”
Journalists should be more careful about making sweeping statements like this, especially about a woman's ability to choose, which could be reversed nationally if the MAGA party wins in November.
We don't need a journalist from a major American newspaper making statements that give voters a false sense of security about a freedom that most Americans support.
We need voters in every state to go out and vote to maintain all of our freedoms, because everyone is at risk. That is what is at stake. If voters in heavily Democratic states stay home because they feel their freedoms are secure, then our democracy will quickly descend into autocracy.
Good for Kounalakis for supporting reproductive freedom in Arizona and Nevada as well. That's what women do: we support each other.
Angela Benson, San Diego
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To the editor: Speaking as a devout, lifelong California Democrat, I believe it is too early to make a decision on which of the talented Democrats to support in the 2026 gubernatorial race.
However, I must strongly disagree with Barabak's statement that “legal abortion is not even remotely at risk in California.”
I can think of three reasons why it is at risk: a US Supreme Court decision on medication abortions is imminent; if Republicans take both houses of Congress and the presidency, I'm sure Senate Republicans will abandon the 60-vote shutdown rule so they can enact a national abortion ban; and the next president will be able to fill vacancies on the Supreme Court.
Ron Garber, Duarte
