Letters to the editor May 21
Planned Parenthood
The end of Roe v. Wade opened a Pandora’s box of battles between pro-life and pro-choice factions.
CI -128 invites unrestricted abortions. Montanans for Life lists six major consequences if this initiative passes; the worse one being no guardrails at all for abortions including partial birth and enshrine abortions as a “right” in our state constitution.
Parental rights gone; sex trafficking increased; allow Planned Parenthood to hide cases of statutory rape. As outrageous as some of these are, keep in mind the unreasonable positions in the past held by Planned Parenthood: money is the driving force. That’s odd, given that Planned Parenthood is a nonprofit.
One major player, Dr. Bernard Nathanson, founder of NARLA, gave up the secrets of the pro-abortion groups after he changed sides. The money to be made in the abortion industry is mind-boggling, and any actions or lies to increase profits are embraced.
The scientific fact that the embryo or fetus is at all stages a human baby is flatly denied. Since ultrasounds confirm the fact, they are rarely offered by Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood insists that they provide many more services for women; abortions being the least in number compared to the other services. However, abortion is the largest generator of income. Both former President Obama and the CEO of Planned Parenthood claimed in 2012 that if funding was dropped (U.S. paid $700,000,000), women would not have access to mammograms. Nonsense! Planned Parenthood didn’t do them, just referred women to clinics who did.
Nathanson admitted lying to congress and the Supreme Court about grossly inflating the numbers of women damaged or killed by illegal abortions. Planned Parenthood’s history is loaded with lies, denials and misinformation, and yet is hotly supported by mostly leftist politicians. Biden and his ilk are hypocritical in claiming to be religious and yet adamantly pro-abortion.
Please vote no.
— Gary Goers, Kalispell
Individual rights
As it becomes increasingly apparent that Republicans are dead set on a federal abortion ban if they once again assume unified power in Washington, we could start a dialogue about fair implementation.
Judging from remarks by Supreme Court justices and more minor legislators, other than forcing child birth of unwanted pregnancies, Republicans also want to curtail the distribution of morning-after pills and outlaw contraceptive measures of any sort.
These policies will certainly increase the birth rate among the poverty-stricken communities in our country, whether they want more children or not. However, since Republican policy interest in children apparently ends at child birth, who will pay to support this infant boom? It is impractical to assume that women will be able to participate much in the workforce if saddled with unplanned children, so how do they manage to raise these kids to be societal assets instead of liabilities?
With today’s genetic testing, it is a simple matter to determine paternity. An objectively fair program to help women raise these children is for their fathers, whether married or not to the mother, to pay child support until the child is at least 18 years old — though 21 years of age would make more sense in our complex world.
If we are to utilize our government to force pregnancies to term against the will of the mother, then that same government should be responsible for those children’s welfare or, at the very least, enforce that the fathers be equally responsible as the mother. All the burden should not fall upon the mothers’ shoulders.
Republicans apparently feel entitled to tell women what they can and can’t do with their own bodies and lives, so they should rightly be willing to legislate support for struggling mothers and a healthy future society. Alternatively, we can avoid all of this misery and conflict by voting for Democrats, folks that believe in individual rights of all people.
— Len Ford, Kalispell
Public servants
Please join me in honoring the invaluable contributions of our nation’s public servants.
Every time I look around the Flathead Valley, I see public servants carrying out critical work daily that allows our society to function effectively. We rely on public servants for our safety through emergency services and preventing crime and terrorism; to ensure we build and maintain the physical infrastructure allowing us to move from place to place, communicate across long distances, power our homes or drink clean water; to educate our children; to administer critical social programs like Social Security and Medicare, and much more.
Too often, their work goes unnoticed until something goes wrong. Yet public servants work every day to provide a stable foundation for all of us to enjoy our lives and our freedom. We should thank them more often — or at least once a year.
That’s why, since 1985, the first week of May has been designated Public Service Recognition Week (PSRW). I hope you will join me in expressing your appreciation to those who serve for what they do for our communities and our country.
— Leland Walbruch, Kalispell