Letters to the Editor: As election looms large, readers call for action — and unity

Access to contraceptives vital to public health, personal freedom

I am writing to voice my unwavering support for the right to contraception. Access to contraceptives is far more than just a healthcare option — this freedom is crucial for economic stability and the overall well-being of families.

Contraception plays a vital role in women's healthcare. Beyond preventing unintended pregnancies and reducing the need for abortions, contraceptives manage various health conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and endometriosis. These benefits significantly improve the quality of life for countless women.

Denying access to contraception also disproportionately harms low-income women and women of color. These groups often face greater barriers to healthcare and economic opportunities. Ensuring access to contraceptives can help bridge these gaps, empowering all women to lead healthier, more independent lives.

Protecting the right to contraception is a matter of public health, personal freedom, and social justice. Ensuring access to contraceptives means everyone, regardless of their income or background, can make informed choices about their reproductive health.

This election, I encourage voters to support candidates who champion the right to contraception and advocate for comprehensive reproductive healthcare. Your vote can make a difference in safeguarding these essential rights.

Maggie Courtney, Springfield

Resisting division is United States' strength

Those who would profit from chaos seek to stimulate divisions and disagreement among individuals and groups.

We all have the ability to choose to look for the things in others that are similar to ourselves rather than what is different.

In my opinion, that focus has been the key to the resilience our country has had in surviving internal conflicts.

Let’s not give that away by succumbing to the seductions of resentment, revenge, and righteous indignation.

Rick Matz, Springfield

Beware the false promises of a would-be despot

We are on the verge of electing a proto-authoritarian for president. This is for many reasons, including Covid, income inequality, President Biden's health issues, our tendency to conceive of opponents as enemies, a housing crisis, an overwhelmed, expensive medical system and a deadlocked Congress. It seems to take forever to get anything done, which has led many to seek a quick and dirty solution from a man who magically promises to fix everything in an instant, but who has no real plans. And that man, Donald Trump, shows every evidence of mendacity, greed, grandiosity, intemperance and selfishness: in fact the usual character of a despot.

Election of the wrong person will be much more wounding to the nation now that the Roberts Supreme Court, reinforced by unfairly chosen and frankly political Republican justices, has capped its Bush v. Gore and Citizens United errors with an expansion of presidential immunity. A president can now break almost any law with impunity, can use the Justice Department, the federal law enforcement agencies and the whole apparatus of government to punish opponents, and can enact almost any policy over the heads of the Legislative Branch.

We must select our votes more carefully than ever, since these may be the last real votes we get.

Gary Wright, M.D., Springfield

Trump's actions are those of a mob boss, not a statesman

The felony criminal conviction of Donald Trump by a New York jury and the conduct of Trump in that entire trial has shown America and the world just who Trump is: a mob boss.

Let’s look at his expanding resume that has ingratiated him with his cult base. At a recent rally he mentioned that the Ten Commandments mentioned that “thou shall not steal,” yet he stole classified documents from the country when he left office. He is a confirmed adulterer. His Trump charity was shut down in New York because it was benefiting Trump himself and the state of New York banned him and his crime family from ever doing it again.

His Trump organization was found guilty of criminal fraud, was fined millions of dollars, and his CEO went to prison. Twelve of his associates have been convicted, including some of those who were involved in the fraudulent election scheme to overthrow the election.

He attempted to stage a coup on Jan. 6 to steal the election for which Mitch McConnell said he was responsible. Trump's Panama resort reportedly laundered Russian oligarch and Colombian cocaine cartel drug money before he was forced to sell it. He has invited bribes from oil executives to help his campaign in return for favorable regulatory policies on oil and gas production.

Rudolph Giuliani said Trump sold pardons before he left office at the going rate of over $200 million per pardon. Now the Supreme Court has said that selling pardons is perfectly acceptable. Trump’s argument to the Supreme Court was that he could kill his political opponents and that action could be determined to be an “official” act protected under the Constitution. The Supreme Court seems to agree. That is how far our nation has fallen.

Now Trump has promised to weaponize the Justice Department against his political opposition. Does any of this sound familiar? He is following Putin’s oligarchical playbook. Why do you think he does that? Here is an answer. When Trump attended the Miss Universe Pageant in Moscow in November 2013, he encountered Putin agents who were looking to recruit someone like Trump into their criminal enterprise.

There were reports that Trump was invited to an event in a Russian hotel involving prostitutes. Trump’s bodyguard said he dropped Trump off at his room, then left, not knowing if Trump left the room and went to the event. My guess is that he did, and Putin has the videos and pictures to prove it. There you get the opportunity for extortion and blackmail. Trump is now Putin’s prisoner, just like Michael Cohen was considered by Trump to be his prisoner until the truth finally came out.

The Trump administration and his crime family is a gangster regime. It works on the basis of extortion, bribery, blackmail, larceny and fraud. Trump’s actions are the actions of a mob boss, not the actions of an honest and responsible public official. Trump is determined to set up a classic protection and extortion racket used by organized crime, just like Putin is running in Russia and using the mechanisms of government, including the Justice Department to aid him in that endeavor. The Supreme Court seems to have no problem with that.

James Fossard, Springfield .

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Letters to the Editor: As election looms large, readers call for action — and unity