Letters: Stimulus payments will help PA families; Standing by the lives of the unborn

Stimulus payments will help PA families

With rising costs and increasing inequality, families are struggling and need support to have some breathing room and financial stability.

Recently, a bill to address that situation has gone to committee, PA HB 2531 (and PA SB 1204). This bill, calling for the administration of a Pennsylvania Opportunity Program, will spend some of the American Rescue Plan money that we already have to give $2,000 directly to families with an income of less than $80,000.

This program would act in a similar fashion as the federal stimulus did during COVID, which will help ensure financial stability for families to help offset increasing costs. Receiving stimulus payments directly is the best way to spur economic growth and recovery, as well as eliminate bureaucratic red tape. This type of measure is well supported between voters regardless of political affiliation.

We have American Rescue Plan funds that the state GOP is hoarding in the treasury, when it should be used to help Pennsylvanians cope with rising inflation. Why won’t GOP leadership get tax dollars back into the hands of regular everyday folks when we need it most? Why is this bill sitting in committee? Contact Majority Leader Benninghoff (www.kerrybenninghoff.com/contact), since his job is to bring bills to the floor to vote, demanding he work to pass this bill and help out the Pennsylvanians he is supposed to represent.

Standing by the lives of the unborn

In response to the statement entitled, “Abortion is a ‘matter between a woman and her God’” on the opinion page of the May 22 CDT, we, the undersigned clergy, pastors and counselors wholeheartedly reject that pro-choice argument and instead, offer a biblical view on abortion. The primary premise is that the decision to get an abortion is one between the individual and God, but in doing so, the authors have completely rejected the biblical truths that life begins at conception (Ps 139:13-16) and that all life is valued by God as His creation (Gen 1:26-27; Ex 20:13; Ps 127:3). While we recognize that there are situations in which a pregnancy might cause great difficulty in life, we reject the notion that the proper response is abortion (regardless of the cause of pregnancy). A child is still a child and there is a moral and biblical requirement to protect life whenever possible (particularly the lives of those who cannot speak for themselves). We also realize that someone who has had an abortion could come to realize their sin and repent. In these cases, we offer counseling and support to help them mature in their faith and grow beyond what has happened in the past. We believe in the sanctity of human life, which means we stand against any evil perpetuated against humans — violence, abuse, oppression, human trafficking, many other evils, and, in this case, the intentional premature ending of human life. Call it what it is — sin. We stand by the lives of the unborn.

Stop junk mail to save trees

If we want to do something very easy to combat global warming, we could follow Australia’s lead. There, anyone can write “No Junk” on their mailbox, and junk mail has to stop. Imagine how many trees we would save by adopting that simple idea!