Dear Editor: James Mack, in an otherwise unobjectionable letter (Aug. 20), accepts the term, “the law of the land” for Roe v. Wade. That has never been approved as a law, to the contrary, it nullified the laws of almost all the states, in an act of judicial abuse. To accept such erroneous terminology is tantamount to surrendering the argument.

As Cardinal O’Brien told me, “verbal engineering precedes social engineering.” Using Google, I found 123 Supreme Court decisions that have been overturned later, and five that have been abrogated. Probably the two most famous are the Dred Scott and Plessy v. Ferguson, that were as much the “law of the land” as Roe.

The ink of the Constitution has been dry for centuries, no emanations, and being in black and white, there are no umbras or penumbras in it. To find these to justify personal opinions will be recognized, like those cases mentioned, as errors for the ages, preferably sooner than later.

By the way, Catholic politicians who support abortion should read the letter to the Church of Laodicea, in the Apocalypse. In my opinion, the smell gives them away.

RAUL ALESSANDRI

Davidsonville, Md.