Letters: Applying Texas abortion law to COVID; Speak up now against proposed casino
Applying Texas abortion law to COVID
Texas has enacted a new law that prohibits abortion and does not provide exclusions for incest and rape. The law permits private citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone helping a woman secure an abortion. Litigants do not need to be related to those getting the abortion or associated in any way with the abortion provider. Critics claim that the new law effectively outlaws Roe v. Wade, the court ruling giving women the right to an abortion.
It would serve the authors of the Texas law right if the exact same law was passed in a different state to prohibit anyone from refusing to get the COVID vaccine or to avoid wearing a mask when the COVID levels in a jurisdiction exceed a CDC-specified level. A lawmaker in another state could propose a new restrictive bill that would prohibit people from “saying no” to getting vaccinated or wearing a mask. Anyone, from any state, who wants mandatory vaccinations and masks in schools could then sue any school board that does not enact rules requiring masks and vaccinations; workers could sue if their employers refused to make proof-of-vaccination and masks mandatory when COVID levels exceed a specified level. A poison-pill provision could be added that, in the event this new law is challenged in court, would trigger a second law to permit any private citizen to countersue anyone who sues someone for getting an abortion or helping others to do so.
Speak up now against proposed casino
The formal application for the casino proposed at Nittany Mall might not be approved as easily as the casino’s developers are hoping. At this point, the decision regarding licensing of the casino will be made solely by the voting members of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. As you may recall, the PGCB already held the local public input hearing at the Penn Stater on Aug. 16. The video as well as more than 80 written comments from our community are now posted and available on the website gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov.
What you may not know is that you can still email your opinion on the proposed casino to PGCB’s Director of Hearings and Appeals (re:SC) at boardclerk@pa.gov. Although written remarks received after the earlier hearing will be marked as arriving “late,” the input you send now will still be made part of the record to be considered at the board’s decision meeting this fall, date remains undetermined. There will be no public comment at that future PGCB meeting in Harrisburg.
The proposed plan to put a gambling casino in the middle of a small university town in a primarily agricultural region is truly a bad idea. It’s a moral and ethical challenge to a community based on family values. The truth is nobody knows what the actual costs or benefits will be.
If you are unwilling to wager on this questionable enterprise, please speak up now. We won’t get another chance to say “NO”!
Anti-mask stance not about freedom
In the Sept. 1 CDT, John Crisp suggests that anti-maskers have a freedom fetish. Ha. Scratch an anti-masker and you’re likely to find someone in favor of voting restrictions and outlawing abortion. Anyone who thinks it’s OK for the government to require a woman to carry a fetus to term but not OK to require a mask has no business claiming to be pro-life. Saying it’s about freedom is BS.
Biden’s broken promises
President Biden betrayed many Americans whom he left stranded in Afghanistan when we proclaim a policy of no person left behind. He promised to get all Americans out but lied mercilessly. How disgraceful and unfeeling! Any withdrawal should have taken out civilians first and military last, while maintaining control of the airport. The botched exercise demonstrates inordinate incompetence.
President Biden called this exit an “extraordinary success.” If that is success, I would hate to see a Biden failure. Unfortunately, with more than three years left in his term, he will have many opportunities to tell us more lies and show us greater disasters.
This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 7:00 AM.