Kansas doublespeak, death penalty, LGBT

The type of government Christian conservatives have warned us that President Barack Obama is creating is the type of government Christian conservatives are creating in Kansas (2-13, A4, “Anti-gay bill advances, draws more criticism”).

Missouri and in particular Attorney General Chris Koster are moving very quickly to clear a backlog of people on death row. The Department of Corrections is now obtaining the drug for its executions in what appears to be an illegal manner from an unregulated pharmacy in Oklahoma.

The execution of Michael Taylor is scheduled for Feb. 26. Taylor was convicted of raping and murdering 15-year-old Ann Harrison after kidnapping her from a school bus stop in southeast Kansas City in 1989.

I cannot imagine the anguish of the families of murder victims; they did nothing to deserve the pain. Why do we inflict that same pain on the family of the condemned? Taylor’s family is innocent as well. Please, Gov. Jay Nixon, commute all of these death sentences to life without parole.

I’d sure hate for Michael Taylor or Roderick Nunley to suffer unnecessarily long and inhumane executions, as did innocent victim Ann Harrison (2-13, A1, “Hold put on lethal drug”). After all, they did admit to the crime, did they not?

This is just a stall tactic that 15-year-old Miss Harrison did not have the luxury of orchestrating as she begged for her life. Give me a break.

Vahe Gregorian’s Feb. 11 column, “Struggle validates success for Sam,” on Michael Sam made mention of Westboro Baptist Church. This raises the question of why there is such a great division in our society over issues of human sexuality.

When I was in medical school in the 1960s, not a lot was understood about the sexuality of humans or lower animals, and over the intervening years we have come to understand that our sexuality is an inborn (if you will) trait. People and other animals do not make a conscious choice about their sexuality.

I remember clearly a discussion in our psychiatric lectures in the 1960s that referenced homophobic behavior as something perpetrated by those who were not comfortable with their own sexuality and were threatened by those with other orientations.

Since then, much progress has been made, but we still see homophobic reactions justified by the cloak of religion.

All cancer patients deserve access to the best treatment available, regardless of what form it comes in. My husband, George Pirch, is being treated for advanced kidney cancer.

He was diagnosed in 2000 and had his kidney removed at that time. In 2013, nodules were found on both lungs.

His oncologist recommended that he start oral chemotherapy treatments, which would allow him to take a pill at home, with office visits every six weeks.

The oncologist let us know the oral chemotherapy was extremely expensive and may not be covered by insurance.

Being on a fixed retirement income, we could not afford the oral treatments not covered by our insurance. Because of that, we now travel 50 miles to a hospital several times a month for infusion treatments, blood tests, X-rays and scans.

These treatments are covered by insurance but take extensive amounts of time and effort. Being able to take the oral chemotherapy pill at home would greatly improve my husband’s quality of life as he goes through his fight against cancer.

I know there are others in Missouri dealing with this. That’s why I ask legislators in Missouri to support legislation (HB 1327, SB 663 and SB 668) that would provide equality in insurance coverage for oral chemotherapy treatments.

Would it be OK if the giraffes were gay? Don’t get me wrong, I love giraffes and find the death of the young giraffe at the Denmark zoo sickening (2-10, A10, “Denmark giraffe”).

What I find even more sickening is the fact that some people care more about this giraffe in Denmark than they do about what is happening to gay people in Russia (2-10, B6, “Olympic buzz”).

Now, I know some idiot is going to say that the giraffe did nothing to deserve his fate, and there is nothing printable I can say to that.

But where is the outcry for these human beings who are being legally beaten and tortured for being gay?

Perhaps it is time we relearn whatever religious beliefs teach us that it is all right to stand back and do nothing when innocent people are killed, all the while sending prayers to the giraffe’s family.

According to the Virginia Department of Agriculture, last year the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) killed more than 1,500 dogs and cats, or 82 percent of dogs and cats taken in. These people operate with a multimillion-dollar budget.

I hope that the public now realizes where donations are really going.

I’ve been hearing a lot of people cite President Barack Obama’s re-election as an endorsement of his policies. I don’t buy it.

I’ll bet there are millions of Americans, like me, who voted against Mitt Romney.

This story was originally published February 15, 2014 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Kansas doublespeak, death penalty, LGBT."