Final words on Value Them Both before Tuesday’s election | Letters to the editor

Goldwater’s warning

As Tuesday’s ballot issue regarding abortion nears, I have been bombarded by propaganda to vote yes.

The problem is these claims are blatantly false and seem to have become the standard practice of the Republican Party.

Barry Goldwater, Arizona Republican senator, spoke to this in Congress in 1980.

His first sentence, “Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem.”

His speech predicted exactly where the Republican Party is now, over 40 years later.

I find it disheartening that the Republicans continue to manipulate people’s emotions by blatantly lying.

Kansas has already put extreme limits on abortion and there is nothing in this amendment to change those.

Please do not let the extremists manipulate, bully, or intimidate you.

Vote “no” on Tuesday.

Steve Slane, Chanute

It’s murder

In the conflict over abortion, we must remember this basic truth; life begins with a flash of light at conception, creating a new, distinct individual who is in the very first stage of life and is growing rapidly.

This person is unique, irreplaceable and precious. This person’s life matters just as much as any person’s life who is in a later stage of development.

We women have a right to decide what happens in our wombs. But the blatant, premeditated murder of our own children in that womb is not something to be desired, or revered, or protected.

It is time to move beyond the barbaric killing of the most innocent of us and to begin to have compassion and concern for those who desperately need us to be their voice, to acknowledge their humanity and worth, and to protect them from those with malicious and deadly intent.

We can be better than we have been. We can move forward instead of staying stuck in the past, where murdering the inconvenient was an acceptable means of dealing with them. It’s time to become compassionate rather than murderous.

Yes; it is time to value them both.

Susanne Haynes, Wichita

Children having children

If a 10-year-old girl was impregnated by her father, which happened several years ago in Riley County, would you force that small child to have a child?

If the Value Them Both amendment passes, children could be forced to have children or even die in the process, because their tiny bodies cannot handle childbirth.

This amendment does not protect children.

Make no mistake, if abortion is outlawed and doctors are not allowed to perform life-saving abortions, women and girls will die.

Voting “no” will protect life! Vote “no” on Tuesday.

Kathy Swenson, Manhattan

Not tough enough

Like me, maybe some of you are struggling to decide how to vote on the Value Them Both Amendment.

We shouldn’t feel bad. Its intent leaves much to be imagined.

There are three main points that stand out to me.

First, it was written before the Dobbs ruling last month overturning Roe v. Wade. With Roe no longer in the picture, the pro-life position in Kansas has gained unprecedented strength overnight. The amendment now reads like a compromise where none is needed.

Second, the author(s) never stepped forward to shoulder the heavy work of open, public discourse. Pro-life Kansans are expected to simply yield to the guidance of policy expertise. How’s that been working for you?

Third, the immediate outcome will be the introduction of new language in our State Constitution affirming “regulated abortion.” If the idea is to eventually shutter our abortion clinics and eliminate the practice altogether, then someday we’ll again need to vote to have this same amendment removed from our Constitution.

On Tuesday, I choose to value all people — starting from conception. My vote is “no.”

I’ll reserve my support for a post-Dobbs tactic that actually reflects an assertive, pro-life posture.

Chad Walker, Newton