Vote no on Amendment #2 like your life depends on it. Because it does.

Vote no on Amendment #2

Pro-lifers have understandable reasons and rights for abhorring abortion. But they can still cherish a free democratic society that prevents politicians, zealous prosecutors, and morality police from harassing women and medical providers. Vote “No” on Amendment 2 to ensure that women are free to make deeply personal decisions in private consultation with their doctors, families, and spiritual guides.

Jacquelyn Thompson, Lexington

Abortion legislation

With all the (justified) attention abortion restrictions are getting, Kentucky legislators are hoping you won’t notice their proposed bills that will interfere with more rights. This is more than politicians determining what happens to your body after conception. This is legislation that will prevent Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance companies from having to pay for birth control methods! It’s already happening in other states and by some employers.

Want to be pro-life? Then you must be pro-reproductive rights, pro-health care, pro-availability of contraceptives, and pro-sex education.

The former conservative, small government, constitution quoting, flag waving Republican party has abandoned those values. Instead, they want to invade your bedroom, making decisions that should only be made between a woman and her physician.

Voting Republican is voting for women to die from pregnancy complications and forcing little girls to have their rapist’s baby. There is no middle ground. Please understand abortion bans are just the start of the GOP’s plans if they get to make the laws.

Vote this November like your rights depend on it, because they do. Vote NO on Amendment #2.

Remember, Democrats who stay home during the midterms elect Republicans who legislate away their rights. Vote on Nov 8th.

Diane Cahill, Lexington

Contraception is next

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) voted for the U.S. House bill to protect the right to contraception. She said, “If you’re gonna have a state that bans abortions for rape victims, you have to ensure protected access to contraception... I can’t imagine a world where you would have otherwise.”

She doesn’t have to imagine; she can move to Kentucky. All of Kentucky’s Republican U.S. Representatives, Hal Rogers, Andy Barr, Thomas Massie, Brett Gutherie and James Comer, voted against the right to contraception.

Kentucky’s maternal and infant death rate is higher than some African nations’ because some Kentucky women can’t find healthcare in counties where they live. Our Republican legislators have ruthlessly cut state healthcare funds, forcing clinics to close. Their abortion ban will cause even higher death rates as more women are FORCED to give birth in the unsafe conditions our Republican Legislators have purposely created. Now they are ensuring even more women will die giving birth by banning contraceptives.

Kentucky’s Republican legislators are ABUSERS who have starved, bullied, belittled, and kept Kentucky women poor and sick through their laws. They don’t like women and I can only conclude neither do the people who vote them into power.

Margaret Groves, Frankfort

Candidate debate

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul refuses to debate Charles Booker before the upcoming election. This isn’t surprising. To do so would require that he defend the many bogus conspiracy theories he invented or supported.

He would also have to explain why it’s ok to relegate women to second class citizenship status when it comes to health care. He would have to explain how the omni-purpose Republican solution to just about any issue (cutting taxes and deregulation) would do little if anything to solve our inflation, environmental, and coal industry challenges. He would have to defend his record on ethics and who actually paid for his foreign travel junkets. He would be challenged to come up with any realistic solution to the increasing gun violence problem in America. His suspect solutions to race relations challenges would be an embarrassment. Lastly, he would be forced into attacking his opponent with his BFF--blatantly incorrect misinformation.

There are many reasons we won’t see Paul debating…the main one being he would most assuredly lose that debate hands down. October 11 at 4 p.m. is the deadline to register to vote in Kentucky. Lady Liberty and democracy desperately need you to register and vote.

Gene Lockhart, Lexington

No liberal Christianity

Would it be too much to ask the Lexington Herald-Leader to find a Christian columnist who doesn’t espouse a watered down, liberal version of Christianity? Paul Prather calls himself an evangelical Christian. He supports abortion. He also supports other left wing Democrat ideologies which he manipulates into appearing to conform to a Christian world view. He plays both sides of the fence and I am tired of it.

According to the Worldometer, 32,250,380 abortions have been carried out worldwide JUST THIS YEAR. While I was writing this paragraph 1,000 more were added to the list. I would ask Mr. Prather: WWJD? Would Jesus condone the mass killing of innocent lives?

Abortion is an agenda couched in terms of “supporting” women and championing women’s rights to choose what happens to their bodies. However, this covers up something much more dark and sinister. Why do we want to and allow our most innocent and vulnerable to be killed? The Bible says “Thou Shalt Not Kill”. Mr. Prather picks and chooses which scriptures he needs for either a feel good column or as tools to judge those who don’t agree with him.

Enough.

Nina Reidmiller, Lexington

Editor’s Note: According to Paul Prather, “I’ve written hundreds of columns for at least a dozen publications across 30-some years, but I can’t recall ever having expressed my own views regarding abortion—in part because they’d only further outrage the absolutists on both sides of this thorny issue without changing a single mind.”

Preserving nature

Thank you for Bill Estep’s recent story about Kentucky Heartwood’s lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service’s proposed logging project on the Red Bird District of the Daniel Boone National Forest.

The recent climate disasters in Kentucky — devastating flooding in eastern Kentucky and tornadoes in western Kentucky — make it clear that our commonwealth is not immune to the effects of global climate change. Unfortunately, things are going to get much worse, and a proposal to log some of the remaining old growth forest in our state can only be considered environmental insanity, as the planet teeters on the precipice.

We must stop these unnecessary logging projects and preserve our remaining forests and streams. We need them for our survival.

Dave Cooper, Lexington

Trump’s orders

It looks like the Oath Keepers charged with breaking into the U.S. Capitol are going to claim, “Trump made us do it.” Now that might work for them as a defense strategy, but it never worked for me when I got in trouble and claimed, “the Devil made me do it.” I just took my medicine and got on with my life.

Guess all the rules have changed.

Ralph Derickson, Lexington

RATP changeover

Wheels paratransit had long been a collaboration between LexTran and the Red Cross, but the Red Cross didn’t want to stay in the transportation business, and “RATP Dev” out of Paris, France, got the contract. Oct. 1 was the changeover. Service had become extremely unreliable. Waiting over 2 hours for one’s ride was becoming more and more frequent.

I don’t have the money to spend on this, but I’ve had to use Lyft too many times recently. I don’t live near a bus route, so that’s not an option for me. I had to use Lyft to get to and from work this weekend. On Oct. 1 and Oct. 2, NO ONE ANSWERED THE PHONES AT WHEELS. I couldn’t schedule a ride to get to my classes at the University of Kentucky. How are people who need dialysis, chemo, or diagnostics getting to the services they need? This is positively bizarre.

If Ratp wanted the contract, they needed to be more prepared than this. They need to “step up to the plate” and meet the requirements of their contract immediately. This is unconscionable!

Betsy Packard, Lexington

Pay teachers more

Earlier this month, FCPS approved a property tax rate increase o to 83.3 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. That newly-generated income would finance land purchases (nearly $400,000/acre) to build new elementary and middle schools. Existing elementary and middle schools have portable buildings that FCPS finds unacceptable. The tax hike is financing FCPS’s growth (at any cost) mindset.

My kids benefited from outstanding educations at FCPS schools. Some of their classes were held in portable buildings. They didn’t mind; they couldn’t care less about the school’s infrastructure, nor did we as parents. It was the quality of instruction and their teachers that were most important, not their facilities. Portable classrooms are an economical option to accommodate ballooning and shrinking student numbers.

FCPS Board: Instead of financing new construction, how about using that extra tax revenue to PAY TEACHERS BETTER SALARIES? This extra revenue could be used to attract and retain good educators instead of construction costs. Invest in HUMAN resources, not land. The national teacher shortage is not because of inadequate facilities. Adjust priorities to grow our teachers’ salaries, not the number of schools.

Lynn Roche-Phillips, Lexington

Real school trouble

“Alarming abuse, few consequences” is the headline that could relate to many crimes in our community. For example, for every 1,000 rapes, 995 perpetrators go unpunished. But you singled out public school educators. I feel as though recent Lexington Herald-Leader articles show evidence of a “news literacy problem” pressing toward a political agenda.

I am hyper-aware of issues inside our schools, including misconduct. The “vast majority” of educators do not abuse or harass our children. The level of mental health needs is probably the highest it has ever been for teachers, administrators, students and parents. But the Herald-Leader spends almost no time writing about obstacles schools have overcome post-Covid. Everybody is carrying more stress and our schools are a dumping ground. “We can’t keep doing this to kids” is a good headline for your story, but could also have been used to describe what the Kentucky legislature has done to children. Kentucky educators are doing the best they can until they cannot do it anymore. Fewer college students are entering the teaching profession. We have a shortage of teachers trying to hold on to make a difference. Save space so you can write soon about empty classroom.

Su Sheridan, Frankfort

Death wish

I am surprised by the death wish comment and racial slur directed at U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and his wife, Elaine Chow. No, not that former President Donald Trump made them- a jackass will always be a jackass. My surprise comes from the deafening silence of Kentucky’s Republican politicians refusing to condemn those comments. In a state where 5 out of the 6 Congressmen are Republican, the other Senator is also a Republican, and most of the state’s elected officials are Republican, where was the outcry? The only Republican who spoke out was Rep. Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, who was expelled from the party for showing courage. The cowardice displayed by Kentucky Republicans is disgusting.

Voters should remember that tough talk and campaign ads depicting shooting a weapon aren’t the same as actually being tough by showing courage.

James F. Wisniewski, Lexington