Anti-choice dilemma
In the 1970s when I first became involved in the pro-choice abortion issue, we imagined all sorts of scenarios if the U.S. or states were to ever assign personhood to fertilized eggs. (Every miscarriage scrutinized and requiring a death certificate?) Now some of these scenarios have become a reality, with laws banning abortions after six weeks, for example. Yet even in our wildest dreams, I don’t know of anyone who envisioned that embryos used for IVF would be defined as children. And Republicans in the U.S. House so far have refused to guarantee the rights of families seeking IVF. If the anti-choice movement, flush with victory after the fall of Roe v. Wade, wishes to take their arguments to what they see as a “logical” conclusion, and promote personhood for IVF embryos, calling themselves pro-family will be an even more laughable misnomer than it has been in the past.
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Diane Dittemore
North side
Beliefs and politics upside down
So, now they want the freedom of only one religion’s adopted Ten Commandments in the public’s classrooms; these rules are attributed to Moses who was most likely born around 1,570 years BC, and thought to be the commandment’s author; he was a Jewish tribal leader of people who chose to believe in one God over the then believed Egyptian Pharaohs as Gods; the Bible is mainly about Jewish history, by Jewish authors and the Jewish God which was adopted as the Christian one (or three in one); now, several of this religious wing’s politicians, government officials and uninformed followers want to return to the 13th century BC (1300 to 1201 BC) pharaoh model of one man worship, power, control, and rule. May the good and benevolent God be with us.
Richard Packard
Oro Valley
Good guys vs. bad guys?
According to the article in the Star recounting the tragic events at the Super Bowl parade in Kansas City, a fight broke out between two men (and isn’t it always men?) who didn’t even know each other. Somehow they felt that their disagreement was serious enough to warrant the discharge of bullets despite being in the middle of a crowd. The inevitable result, the death of innocent people.
Who was the bad guy with the gun, and who was the good guy? I can tell you who the bad guys are: the NRA and those members of Congress who refuse to pass gun control legislation, who still labor under the delusion (or profess to) that having a gun will make you safer. It is pure fiction. It is the simple truth that more guns equals more deaths. Period.
Beth Dingman
Green Valley
Time to fish or cut bait
How does the Ukraine war end? Is it when the Russians withdraw their troops, return all occupied land, and admit that they were wrong?
The Sunday talk shows put the blame on the House Speaker stating that the future of Ukraine and world was in his hands. As if releasing American funds will somehow solve what it now a U.S./Russia proxy war of attrition.
European nations, many of whom have coveted social welfare systems, are thousands of miles closer and do not seem to have the same sense of urgency. Also, we can provide conventional weapon systems which would allow the Ukrainians to bring the war to Russia. Cruise missiles to allow strikes in Russia itself. Moscow, refineries, military bases etc. Tanks and artillery are not going to defeat an adversary willing to accept extreme losses on Ukrainian soil.
If we are not going to give the Ukraine the tools to win decisively, perhaps we should find another solution.
Chris Simenson
Green Valley
Rules and more foolish rules
Now that a state supreme court has ruled (essentially) that a woman’s egg is a human being, one has to wonder if all of the eggs that a woman has and not yet delivered to her uterus are human being also. These eggs are clearly part of a human being, they are part of a WOMAN. They are not eligible to vote and the vast, vast majority of these eggs will never be delivered to the uterus. They are all the ‘property’ of the woman; not the property of government, nor that of a man, nor that of a court, nor that of any legislature. Why is it so hard for the ‘Right’ aligned control freaks to realize that they do not control a woman’s body. It is her body to do what she believes is the right thing to do, HERS ALONE.
How would any man react if a court told you that all of your sperm are human beings and punishable by imprisonment if discarded?
Vincent Allen
Northwest side
Putin directing the Republican Party
Every day we hear of yet another absurd move by the Republicans who desperately try to gain points in public opinion ahead of the Nov. elections. And the closer we look, the more we recognize Putin’s handwriting all over the wall. Whether it’s the opposition to supporting the Ukrainians in their self-defense against Russian aggression, whether it’s the absurd attempts to impeach Pres. Biden, whether it’s the strategy to deny the outcomes of our elections, if not their manipulation, or whether it’s former Pres. Trump’s antics and gaslighting, we can recognize Russian influence. Putin is a former KGB man, and he knows that it is much more cost-effective to mesmerize or hypnotize the conservative masses in the USA than to confront our so-far still free democracy in military terms. Putin has his hands also in the pockets of many German politicians and others, but the buck should stop here. We can have disagreements, but any American supporting Putin is a traitor.
Albrecht Classen
Midtown
The Party of Putin
Putin’s loyal followers, often called MAGA, have successfully implemented Putin’s goals. The murdering dictator wants Ukraine for his domination. Only freedom loving Ukrainians stand in his way. What Ukrainians need is the means to defend themselves. What Putin needs is for the U.S. to abandon Ukraine. The Donald with his Republican toadies have delivered for Putin-no additional U.S. aid is forthcoming. The Donald’s subservience to Putin remains intact. Of course Putin will stop with Ukraine. After all Hitler stopped with Czechoslovakia right? But with a MAGA education I doubt they know who Hitler was.
William Garrity
Foothills
Elections matter
I have heard multiple times we have problems in this country because of too much politics. I disagree, the problem is too little politics. I say that because we have not learned that elections have consequences.
We elect people by either voting for them or not voting at all. Then we complain about what they do.
We should not be surprised when we elect a President and he then appoints to the Supreme Court, justices who issue decisions we are vehemently opposed to.
We should not be surprised when we elect four members to the Arizona Corporate Commission who deny human-caused global climate change and who then pass rules that make that problem worse.
Simply put, elections matter. We should choose wisely.
Howard Strause
Foothills
Medicare Advantage
Re: the Feb. 27 article “Medicare needs reform, not Advantage plans.”
Thank you, Tyna Callahan, for your excellent summary of the disadvantages associated with Medicare Advantage — limited choice of providers, requirements for prior authorization and other barriers to care. Traditional Medicare is a government-run program with extremely low administrative costs. Once a middleman is introduced, along with the need for profit, the amount of money going for actual health care is significantly reduced. Let’s strengthen traditional Medicare so it works for all seniors!
Eve Shapiro, MD, MPH
Foothills
Democratic prosecutors’ persecution of #45
Re: the Feb. 27 letter “Democrat prosecutors’ persecution of Trump.”
I just read an astonishing recount of a member of the Cult of Trump claiming that Democratic prosecutors are persecuting the former twice-impeached, self-described sexual predator because they are Democrats. The writer apparently forgot that there are laws in this country that we all need to adhere to. But that’s not the concern of the letter writer. Her only concern is that her cult leader is being persecuted. She doesn’t realize the difference between persecution and prosecution. Her “anointed one” did everything he’s been prosecuted for. He sexually assaulted a woman in a dressing room and was found guilty of that. That’s why there was no need for a jury trial. He was already found guilty.
John Bingham
Northwest side
Different viewpoints
Wonder if some of the very frequent liberal writers to the Opinion Section are on the Arizona Daily Star’s payroll as I see the same names over and over again? Their inputs constantly call those who do not share their political views the most hateful and degrading names. Their theme is always the same against the “other side”: they are called a cult, stupid, insane, clowns, hypocrites, susceptible to lies, hypocritical, racist, and other very unkind terms.
These types of inputs ferment and exasperate the division now occurring among us and also show the level of coordination these writers seem to have as inputs tend to follow the “same theme” against their fellow Americans who have a different viewpoint than they do.
Rosalie Wright
Oro Valley
Medicare Advantage
Re: the Feb. 27 article “Medicare needs reform, not Advantage plans.”
This was an excellent opinion regarding the disadvantages of Medicare Advantage (MA) programs. MA is a misnomer since it is an insurance company product for Medicare eligible patients but it is not Medicare. The MA plans profits are excessive by even health insurance standards, double that of indemnity insurance. The MA plans across the board (eight of the 10 largest) have been accused of upcoding and overbilling with four of the five largest accursed of outright fraudulent practices. This has resulted in an estimated 22-35% excess billings which amounts to $88 to $140 BILLION per year, which is more than enough to provide all Medicare beneficiaries’ vision, hearing, and dental care.
United Healthcare reports an expected profit of $27.5 billion in 2024, the majority due to their MA plans. Traditional Medicare (TM) has no profit motive and overhead operating expenses is about 3%. We need to greatly improve TM and take the profit incentive out of MA for the sake of patients and taxpayers.
Michael Hamant, MD
East side
Funding for asylum seekers
Dear Congressman Ciscomani,
You were elected to serve your constituents in Southern Arizona. You recently voted to reject carefully thought-out bipartisan legislation to help solve our border issue. Not only did you reject the funding to increase staffing by the border patrol but even more devastating to Southern Arizona, you voted to stop the funding for folks who are applying for asylum. So in one month, the streets of Tucson will likely be flooded with those folks. The city of Tucson and Pima County will be paying for those services instead of the federal government, just as is happening in San Diego today. The faith groups like Catholic Relief Services and others will also be attempting to pay for this.
I understand that many Republicans see the border issue as a great thing in an election year. But you were elected to serve Southern Arizona not the RNC or candidate Trump.
Sincerely,
your constituent
Robert Beren, MD
Foothills
Lunacy
2-23-2024
AZ Senate: Your Sex is what’s set at birth
AZ Senate: Let students appeal grades over politics
Lawyer who’s worked with Lake, Gosar and Palin set for new AZ government job
Meghan McCain blasts Kari Lake over John McCain comments
2-25-2024
NGO stand between Tucson and chaos
AZ moving to require exit exam
2-27-2024
AZ Senate: Schools must tell parents about students’ gender identities
AZ’s Senate is paying state GOP chair $15K per month
Lawsuit seeks to open divorce records (Ruben Gallego)
Lake in line with GOP memo, backs IVF services
From Feb. 23-27, these headlines and articles in the Arizona Daily Star, available on the online AZ Daily Star, shocked me, illustrating the level of ignorance and vitriol spouted by Republican legislators. Our state and country cannot allow such myopic, backward thinking to drive the Legislature. Hopefully, the need to support Democratic candidates in the next election shouts out to voters.
Roger Shanley
East side
Please explain
Some prominent wealthy individuals in the financial world are complaining that Leticia James’s successful prosecution and penalization of Trump is unfair.
Is it unfair that New York has a law requiring truthful valuations on a loan application? Is it unfair that that law provides for fines if an applicant deliberately lies and thereby commits fraud? Is it unfair that Trump got caught committing a crime and then got prosecuted for that behavior? Or is it unfair because Trump is not subject to the rule of law like other citizens? My inquiring mind wants to know.
Rick Cohn
West side
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