The State
Sun, July 3, 2022 at 6:00 AM·3 min read

Separate church and state

My father’s blood soaked the sands of Iwo Jima in WW II. I am the direct descendent of a Revolutionary War patriot who served with George Washington at Valley Forge.

For years I have worked to register voters, teach voter registration, and get people to the polls so they may participate in democracy. My family and I are the stuff of which this country was made, and we want it back.

Abraham Lincoln ended the control of one people by another, but six people sitting on a court bench have taken away the right of all women to control their own bodies. Instead of enacting control to curb gun violence and thus save lives, these six justices have enabled more guns to be on the streets.

I want an America with a clear separation of church and state so six Supreme Court justices will not be able to impose their religious beliefs on us.

We must elect people who will restore rights we have lost, protect rights we still have, and stop taking away more.

Voting has never been more crucial. Register to vote and be prepared to go to the polls for the next elections. America needs you.

Elizabeth Sumner Jones, Columbia

Combine passions

In the wake of the SCOTUS decision overturning Roe v. Wade, both pro-life and pro-choice passions could be better spent in the combined compassionate support of women who find themselves in desperation due to an unwanted pregnancy.

Let us provide excellent pre- and postnatal counseling, healthcare, and sheltered protection if needed, excellent children’s homes, foster care, and adoption programs.

Let us require financial support from the men who contributed to the pregnancy and let us insist on harsh penalties for those committing rape and incest.

There are plenty of available birth control methods to prevent the need for an abortion. Women who can should exercise “choice” before conception.

Vulnerable women who are taken advantage of should receive the utmost support, and the men who prey upon them should receive appropriate penalties.

This decision should be as welcome and celebrated as Brown v. Board of Education.

This is an opportunity for good in our time to address real needs in positive ways. Can we not unite in this common cause?

Cathy Strickland, Columbia

Ask questions

As our elected officials consider reproductive health care mandates, I urge you to ask hard questions.

Who benefits? Who is harmed? Who is responsible for the funding for such a mandate?

What is the projected budget and taxpayer cost of a full term pregnancy mandate? (lost wages, child care, transportation, medical care, hospitalizations, 24-hour care for severely compromised births; mental health care for the mother, etc.)

What are the statistics for viability of high risk pregnancies?

Will women who endure a miscarriage be punished when, according to the Mayo Clinic, as many as 1 in 4 pregnancies result in miscarriage with over 90% occurring before the eighth week of pregnancy? Most are because the fetus isn’t developing as expected. About 50% are genetic-related.

Will descendants of veterans exposed to toxins like Agent Orange and burn pits be punished? These toxins impacting veterans continue to cause miscarriages and severe birth defects in children of second and third generations.

Mixing religious extremism and law creates a dangerous precedent which has the potential to destroy our democracy.

Betty Rankin, Rock Hill

Consider the male

I am disappointed that Roe has been overturned and I am especially disappointed that there has been no discussion of the responsibility of the man who fathered the child.

Should the woman be solely responsible for the financial responsibility of raising the child?

In many cases, it will be taxpayers who pick up the slack for feeding and housing the mother and child while the father moves on with no responsibility at all.

Of course. the laws against abortion will be written by men who will give no thought to the financial role of the male or his family if he is a dependent.

Any laws enacted to make abortion illegal should include language that requires financial support by the male. Bob Robinson, Columbia

https://news.yahoo.com/reader-yearns-america-governs-greater-100000972.html