Kansas amendment boosters say the Legislature won’t ban abortion immediately. Ha ha ha

Just the start

Usually, I read opinion pieces and give them cursory reviews whether I agree with them or not. But the disingenuous July 12 commentary by Elizabeth Kirk of Catholic American University stands out for its shortsightedness concerning GOP politics in Kansas and most of the nation. (5A, “Vote yes on Kansas’ Value Them Both”)

She correctly states that a yes vote on the amendment to the Kansas Constitution on Aug. 2 “gives authority to elected Kansas lawmakers to enact abortion legislation as they see fit.” And that’s the problem. GOP lawmakers in Kansas will certainly fall all over themselves to pass legislation that restricts women’s rights. If the Value Them Both initiative passes, there will certainly be bills introduced on Day One of the 2023 legislative session to end abortion, as well as the rights to privacy and bodily autonomy that we have come to expect.

And if you don’t think that will happen, you haven’t been paying attention to the lunacy Republican lawmakers regularly pass off as commonsense legislation.

- Steve Hauck, Overland Park

Training needed

The June 27 front-page story, “Experts fear ruling could limit medical training for miscarriages” discusses how the lack of abortion training in OB-GYN residencies can make physicians feel less adequate to manage pregnancy loss. This discussion is important, as there is a distinct difference between miscarriages and abortions even though the procedures and medications are similar.

As a nurse, I acknowledge the importance of sufficient training to ensure the safety of patients in routine and emergent miscarriage situations. Regardless of the Roe v. Wade decision, OB-GYN physicians should know how to handle miscarriages and obstetric emergencies whether they have been trained to perform elective abortions or not. Deliberately killing a fetus is different from removing one that has already died.

A concerning survey cited in the story showed that residents who graduate from programs without abortion training don’t feel as prepared to handle pregnancy loss. If that is true, then the existing curriculum needs to be revamped immediately regardless of how each state chooses to regulate abortion. Also, states will need to clearly distinguish between abortion and pregnancy loss to eliminate legal concerns for miscarriage management.

- Todd Daniel Saylor, Roeland Park

A showdown

Liability insurance — it is required for cars. Why not guns? We have registration laws. Add proof of insurance. That would cut down the number of miscreants who own guns and increase the level of gun ownership responsibility.

It might pit gun enthusiasts against the insurance industry, though. Yes, gun owners against people who sell insurance, claims adjusters and people who decide whether and when to pay claims.

Oh darn.

- Otto Rieke, Overland Park

Won’t risk it

I predict Donald Trump will not run again in 2024. My reasoning: If he loses, he fears everyone will consider him a loser. He knows he lost last time, regardless of what he has said. If he doesn’t run, he can claim he didn’t enter the race because the election would be rigged against him.

Remember, he claimed the elections were rigged in 2016, until he won. Then he claimed it was a fair election.

- Wili McKinney, Lenexa

On our screens

Saturday, I watched a movie and a television series. In the 1936 film “The Petrified Forest,” Humphrey Bogart, playing a gangster on the run, shoots and kills a drifter character portrayed by Leslie Howard at the movie’s end. The gangster had held Howard and others in a diner at gunpoint for about a half hour, then just shoots him before he runs out, evading police.

Next Walter White, played by Brian Cranston in the TV show “Breaking Bad,” becomes an unrepentant killer, finishing off one victim after running him down with his car. His face suggests he doesn’t grasp what he just did, but he’s not sorry.

Television and movies have been blamed for violence for decades. Maybe there’s something to that.

- Carol Zastoupil, Kansas City

Deeply rooted

A Kansas City businessman is starting a drive to change the name of Troost Avenue because it honors a city founders who owned slaves. (July 12, 5A, “Rename Troost as Truth Avenue now? Not so fast”) Using this reasoning, we should also change the name of Washington, D.C.

- John S. Savella Jr., Overland Park