Sounding off: Overturning Roe is a disaster for national unity

Gun Rights

One of the stranger assertions in the Dobbs opinion is that Roe v. Wade is “controversial.” In the first place it’s not true — nearly all polls show a staunch majority against overturning it. But Roe was also a compromise, between the two strong positions that abortion should be fully legal or fully illegal. This is the stance of the American people and almost every western country.

By overturning Roe, the Supreme Court has removed this guardrail. Previously, debates over abortion took place in the margins. Now they are about whether or not abortions exist at all. Every gubernatorial election has just become far more high-stakes, including ours.

The obvious legal complication of 50 different abortion laws will make this even worse. The governors of California and Massachusetts have both declared that they will not extradite those accused by other states of illegal abortions. It’s hard to see how this does not lead to states’ rights being significantly violated, or in efforts for a federal abortion ban, which, it goes without saying, will escalate further.

We should ask ourselves exactly how close to boiling the court is willing to raise the national temperature.

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Daniel Kline, Delmont


Guns are a human, not political, issue

What more of a wake-up call do Senate Republicans need? Nineteen children stuck in a room with a gunman, begging for help while 19 officers of the law stood in the hall doing nothing to stop the gunman.

AR-15s and the like need to be removed from gun shop shelves and gun shows now.

Senate Republicans talk about compromise. They talk about everything, but we need real action now. Background checks and red flag laws need to be in place and followed.

They are worried about protecting Supreme Court justices. What a joke. Adults vs. children. How about we remember a little girl smearing blood on herself with a cellphone in her hand, watching her classmates being shot?

This is a human issue, not Republican or Democrat, although the Democrats are not the problem, as usual.

One more thing: Maybe Republicans could think more clearly if the NRA stopped giving them so much money to fund their campaigns.

Darlene Kuniak, Harrison


Hearings show extent of Trump’s disgraceful actions

Testimony by Republicans at the Jan. 6 hearings clearly illustrates that President Donald Trump unilaterally orchestrated the “Big Lie” as follows:

1. He persisted even though Attorney General Bill Barr told the president claims of election fraud were “bull——.”

2. Barr resigned and Trump pressured acting Attorney General Geoffrey Rosen by saying, “Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen.” He knew there was none.

3. Trump pressured the director of Homeland Security to seize voting machines, but he refused because he knew it was illegal.

4. Phone call records and testimony reveal he directed the scheme to submit Republican slates of electors in key battleground states. This is unconstitutional.

5. Trump pressured Vice President Mike Pence to forestall and disrupt the electoral vote count on Jan. 6. Pence is a hero for refusing.

6. He instigated the crowd that stormed the Capitol that led to mayhem, destruction and death.

For you Trump supporters out there, you were not only “duped,” but the $250 million in donations you gave him for his supposed defense fund has been used only for Trump organizations. That’s two slaps in the face.

Sadly, Trump will suffer little. It’s doubtful a former president will go to jail. If he’s fined, good luck collecting the money, since he’ll tie things up in the courts. Lastly, his base will still follow him because they don’t watch the news and are incapable of admitting they were wrong in supporting him.

This man clearly lost the election and disgracefully tried to overthrow democracy.

Tom Tarosky, West Leechburg


Biden’s incompetence is stunning

The stupidity of this administration is stunning. President Joe Biden and his minions are obsessed with their progressive left/woke/green agenda. They don’t seem to have a clue about what is going on in this country. Many Americans are struggling to just put gas in their tanks and buy groceries.

One of the first decisions he made after his inauguration was to shut down the Keystone XL pipeline. Brilliant! So, instead of energy independence, we rely on our oil from other countries, some of which hate us.

We made a hasty and poorly thought out retreat from Afghanistan. We left behind thousands of pieces of equipment, vehicles, weapons and ammunition. I’m sure the Taliban is very appreciative.

Crime is out of control. Many left-leaning prosecutors refuse to prosecute criminals.

The stock market is tanking.

The southern border is not secure, and I don’t believe immigration law is being enforced, which is leading to more crime and drugs on our streets. Who is advising this president, Puff the Magic Dragon?

In my opinion, the world perceives us as weak. I seriously doubt that if we had stronger leadership that Putin would have invaded Ukraine.

Sadly, this country is enveloped in a perfect storm of incompetence.

Dr. Gregg L. Goldstrohm, Unity


Abortion, convenience and reality

The extraordinary fate of being able to bear children, to sustain the human race, falls to women. How significant is this? How significant is a human life, the human race? With this fate comes responsibility, a moral obligation unlike any other.

As long as pregnancy imposes impediments to a woman’s pursuit of happiness, she bears an unequal burden. This is why the cool people have insisted on the unintuitive and, frankly, sick position that we have no moral obligation to unborn children. Moreover, in order to complete the liberation of women they also hold that the termination of a pregnancy must be guilt free and, in fact, laudable. This is why progressives have such ghoulish enthusiasm for abortion. Their quest for women’s equality requires it.

What is the exact moral status of the unborn child at any particular stage of development? I don’t know, but we all know that it is never nil. Thus the view that every abortion is morally blameless and immune to legislative sanction is certainly wrong.

Reality is a stubborn thing; it cares little for our convenience.

Arthur Moeller, New Florence


Leaders should keep school safety in focus

Now is not the time for our school boards and state legislators to take time off from school safety.

If you check your school board’s website, you will probably see that there are no meetings in July and probably no meetings until later in August. Also, if you check the school board’s own statements, you will see that they serve as agents of the state Legislature.

In my opinion as a citizen and as an approved Pennsylvania school safety assessor, this is no time to take time off from school safety. We don’t need or care to know everything a school needs to know about safety, but we need to know everything a school cares about for safety.

So, if the school board is an agent of the state Legislature, we need to know that our state schools and our state legislators are still working and sharing everything they need to know and care about for school safety. All sensitive and confidential information can be shared on a need-to-know basis, but we still need to know and show that we will always care for our schools’ safety and especially for all the students in our schools.

We all need to do what is right, right now, and before the necessary becomes necessary.

Dennis Smiddle, Canonsburg


Why are protesters allowed to break the law?

It is time for transparency as to why we let states not enforce laws on the books. Why create new laws if state authorities are not willing to enforce current laws?

The question is, why is the state of Maryland allowing picketing outside the homes of the Supreme Court justices, when pickets are assembling in order to harass and disrupt people’s lives? It is no wonder more people break laws every day believing nothing will happen to them when they disobey state and even federal laws; it makes our country look weak. The protesters are criminals when they show no respect for laws. Where is the protection for the law-abiding people to protect their rights ?

Same thing year after year: protesters ignore laws, nothing is done about them blocking highways and streets, creating danger and inconvenience to residents. Doing so can cause death if emergency vehicles cannot get to people who need assistance. Why are cities and states not enforcing the laws concerning protesting?

We may not like a decision made by the Supreme Court, but it does not mean we should carry on and try to disrupt the lives of the justices at their homes. It is time to arrest and prosecute these people who do not obey the law, for we cannot let patients run the asylum, as they say.

Douglas Johnston, Franklin Township, Beaver County

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