Your letters for Oct. 25, 2024

By NewsPress Now

Your letters for Oct. 25, 2024

Vote carefully

I believe this year’s November 5 election is the most important in my lifetime.

Check out the list of endorsements by news media here in this country and world-wide for Harris/Walz versus Trump/Vance, and you will see what an outlier our local News-Press is for endorsing Trump. Overwhelmingly, journalists and their media outlets who’ve been continual witness to this man’s lying, racist, narcissistic, hateful behaviors and actions oppose his return to the White House (as in 90+ percent of them).

But here in St. Joseph, our local editors think we should hand Trump the presidency so he can try out his “fresh” ideas–which actually are not new, coming straight from a fascist “playbook” reminiscent of Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany.

Historian Dr. Heather Cox Richardson points out that “Trump is using increasingly fascist rhetoric [claiming the country] is being overrun by Black and Brown criminals and that they, along with their Democratic accomplices, must be rounded up, deported, or executed, with the help of the military.”

I’m praying that the country’s voters will not put this maniacal dementia-suffering man back into the White House as the most powerful human on earth where he and his sycophants can wreak world-wide havoc.

Dr. Jane Frick

St. Joseph

Amendment 3

goes too far!

Rather than restoring or amending legislation to regulate abortion in-line with Missouri values, Amendment 3 inserts radical abortion rights into our State Constitution. Once in the Constitution, these will be very difficult to correct, likely taking decades, if ever. Current abortion laws protecting women and girls will likely be deemed unconstitutional, especially given the amendment’s strict legal wording.

Here are a few impacts.

Amendment 3 removes all age restrictions to obtain an abortion, allowing minors to receive abortions without parental notification or consent. (Par 2)

Current restrictions on abortion-related care would be “presumed invalid.” This negates medical health and safety laws intended to protect patients, lowering the standards of care for the mother. (Par 3) Missouri law currently regulates abortion operations, including the requirement that abortions be performed by doctors, facility licensing, safety and cleanliness, record-keeping, and regular inspections. These rules were challenged by abortion providers in the past. Amendment 3 will provide new opportunities to abolish these common-sense rules.

Abortion providers could not be held liable for any “adverse action” related to the woman’s “pregnancy outcomes.” This eliminates the mother’s legal protection while protecting providers from consequences due to negligence or malpractice. (Par 5).

The carefully-crafted language of Paragraphs 4 and 8 opens the door to abortions through all nine-months of pregnancy, due to a woman’s “emotional, psychological, and familial” concerns (based on Doe v. Bolton).

Supporters claim Amendment 3 will improve emergency miscarriage care by removing ambiguity in Missouri’s current laws. Missouri Revised Statutes Section 188 provides for emergency care for miscarriages; if the wording is legally ambiguous, it can be corrected through appropriate regulations, rather than amending the constitution.

Over time, all of Missouri’s pro-life laws will be challenged, including those protecting the interests of a baby’s father, parents of a pregnant minor, and the opportunity for the mother to view a real-time ultrasound of her unborn child.

Finally, and most importantly, nowhere does the amendment recognize the life of the baby.

Amendment 3 hurts women, girls and future women. Please vote no on Amendment 3.

John Modlin

St. Joseph