After the Supreme Court lets Missouri ban abortion, your birth control is next

Next, the pill

Monday night, word leaked of the Supreme Court’s draft plan to overrule Roe v. Wade.

Sadly, the death of a woman’s right to control her own body was written the day then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his cohorts hypocritically prevented, for an obscene period, any Senate vote on the nomination of centrist Merrick Garland to the court.

Soon, in Missouri and in many states, abortion will be illegal for nearly any reason — this despite a 2021 Pew Research poll showing 59% of adult Americans approve of legal abortion in all or most instances.

I also fear that soon the pill and certainly the morning-after pill will be illegal in our state and most others. Then, once again, only the wealthy or connected will have control over their own bodies.

The right to privacy upon which Roe is based also forms the basis for many other rights, including our ability to marry whom we choose. Those rights too are now at risk, despite Justice Samuel Alito’s suspect assurances to the contrary.

Should this opinion hold, the only appeal is to the voters, and we must metaphorically fight hard to retain even that right. As Benjamin Franklin famously put it, we have a republic, if we can keep it.

- Mark A. Jess, Weston

At the source

Our politicians are missing the easiest, cheapest and most effective solution to the illegal immigration problem (if one does exist): Simply enact laws making the hiring of an illegal worker a felony punishable by fine or imprisonment. Legal employment status is easily verified online through the federal E-Verify system.

- Edward Stine, Prairie Village

Royal wins

The Royals game telecast Monday featured a number of pros and cons: The cons included no situational hitting, no clutch hitting and ultimately another loss. The pros included outstanding pitching, a spectacular catch by Michael A. Taylor and no commentary by Rex Hudler.

All in all, despite the loss, I enjoyed watching the game primarily because of the professionalism of the announcers. It was refreshing to see Jeff Montgomery teamed with the always professional Ryan Lefebvre.

- Tom Hall, Lake Quivira

Littered up

Recent letters to the editors regarding trash makes me wonder if we shouldn’t clean up our city before we spend $160 million on a park over Interstate 670 downtown. If I were king for a day, this is what I would do:

▪ Require all local municipalities’ city managers and mayors to tour our interstates to see how much trash is littered along our highways. It is disgusting.

▪ Require all homebuilders to have trash dumpsters on site and give city inspectors the authority to fine the builder if there is loose trash on the site.

▪ Require tow truck drivers who haul wrecked cars to clean up the wreckage debris, and require police officers on the scene to remain until all is cleared up. What do they think happens to the bumper left on the side of the road?

▪ Mount an anti-littering media campaign as aggressive as the COVID-19 mask and vaccine commercials and billboards. Maybe it would make some people think about throwing trash out their car windows.

I doubt if the litterbugs read the paper, let alone letters to the editor. But if you do litter, please write in and explain why.

- Jeff Pence, Kansas City

Unicorns, too?

I had to chuckle at the Sunday letter to the editor stating that we voters need to elect individuals who are rational, honest, have integrity and are truth tellers. (19A) Please let us all know when you find a politician with those qualities. I’ll wait.

- Margaret Kensinger, Raytown

Will be missed

Dear Melinda Henneberger: I was so sad to see in Sunday’s paper that you are leaving The Star. (19A, “Goodbye, Star readers, and a big thank-you”) You have been a consistent light here in the Kansas City area, and you will be sorely missed.

Thank you for all your good work and especially for your “dog with a bone” attitude in advocating for the powerless and the prosecution of ex-Kansas City, Kansas, police detective Roger Golubski. You’re a fine example of why every city needs a good newspaper. God has blessed you not only with an ability to write eloquently but with a heart set on justice and kindness. Godspeed.

- Cathy Dykman-Acinger, Spring Hill, Kansas

This story was originally published May 4, 2022 at 5:00 AM.