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Access to Abortion

Stephania Taladrids piece about a Texas teen-ager seeking an abortion is deeply disturbing (An Abortion Odyssey, June20th). Laura, as she was called, at least had the support of a parent who was willing to drive hundreds of miles and spend upward of a thousand dollars to help her. But, in more than two-thirds of states, when pregnant minors dont have parental consent for an abortion, the laws require them to go before a court to obtain an order authorizing one. In the best of times, the judicial-bypass procedure is traumatizing. In a post-Dobbs world, in which obtaining an abortion may mean travelling to another state, many pregnant minors will face the additional obstacle of having to get a court order there. Teens who lack parental support will thus be unable to end their pregnancies lawfully and safely; inevitably, many will resort to dangerous self-help methods instead.

Barbara AtwoodProfessor EmeritaJames E. Rogers College of LawUniversity of ArizonaTucson, Ariz.

I appreciated Louis Menands detailing of Yoko Onos artistic career (The Grapefruit Artist, June20th). About the intertwining of Onos and John Lennons work, Menand writes, Ono herself admitted that together we hurt each others career and position just by being with each other and just by being us. How true is that? As a co-author of a biography about Ono (Yoko Ono: Collector of Skies), I believe that Onos statement is very true. In the nineteen-sixties and seventies, it may not have been apparent that romancing a pop star threatened Onos credibility. But Lennons celebrity meant that Ono could no longer come and go quietly on the avant-garde stage. (Picture Marina Abramovi running off with Justin Bieber, and youve got the idea.) Ono struggled with questions about whether her art was evaluated on its own merits or because her partner was famousno small source of regret for someone forging her own artistic voice.

Nell BeramCambridge, Mass.

Thanks to Alex Ross for bringing attention to Germanys opera scene and the state of arts funding in the country (Musical Events, June 20th). As he notes, Public funding makes this quasi-utopia possible. Germany also allows taxpayers to deduct up to twenty per cent of their taxable income for charitable contributions, including those to opera houses, and to carry excess contributions into future tax years. (In much of the E.U., such deductions are limited to ten percent.) As a result, most of Germanys opera houses have a Frderverein, or friends group, whose aim is to support new productions and nurture young singers.

J. Patrick TruhnBerlin, Germany

I was heartened by Rebecca Meads article about the theatre director Robert Icke (A Hamlet for Our Time, June13th). Having worked in theatre for decades, I, too, believe in looking at what is in the text instead of projecting ideas onto it. Icke poses brilliant questions about Ophelia in Hamlet, and his inventive staging deepens our understanding of her character, her madness, and her relationship with the tortured prince. When I studied in London, in 1977, I asked my teacher Judith Gick for her best advice about staging Shakespeare. Remember he is writing about real people, she said. This seems to be precisely Ickes approach.

Randi Jean KleinSanta Fe, N.M.

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The Mail - The New Yorker