Readers share thoughts on abortion, Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders

Keep abortion

Many states are trying to ban abortions. But is this a good thing? Consider these points logically, without applying religious beliefs.

The Earth is rapidly reaching a tipping point toward having more people than it can support. Why should we force births on women who do not want the children?

Almost all abortions occur before the fetus can think or feel. Why is a fetus more important than the woman who can think and feel?

People say we could be aborting the next Albert Einstein, etc. We could be aborting the next Adolf Hitler or Ted Bundy as well. And, if the fetus is the result of rape, the genetic chances of the latter are more likely than the former.

Prohibiting abortions is based on religious beliefs — not science. Legislators prohibiting abortions are imposing their religion on people who do not share those beliefs.

I think we should use the same criteria for “personhood” of a fetus that we do for death: Is the heart beating and are there brain waves?

Until both measures are met, an abortion should be the woman’s decision only. It’s the logical way of deciding.

Suzanne Conaway

Kansas City

Pitts column

I fully agree with Leonard Pitts’ May 24 column, “The danger of entering Trump’s no-facts zone,” saying the polling place in America will be the “most dangerous place on Earth” come November.

The reality of this year’s presidential race is that the safety and integrity of our country are at stake. In fact, the stakes may go beyond that to include the entire world, with issues of global warming and water shortages hanging in the balance.

I hope my fellow voters will consider our choices carefully and vote for reason.

By that, I mean anyone but the bombastic vulgarian named Donald Trump.

While often as bombastic but not so vulgar, our Kansas Legislature deserves similar consideration. We all need to vote only for those who have fought for the interests of the people — the electorate — and not for their personal, sometimes misplaced values.

Together we can restore honor and common sense to the laws of our state.

Margaret Hays

Osawatomie, Kan.

Civic duty to vote

I applaud the support some young people are giving to Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders. I share his vision with them and support him.

But be warned: If you want to change the system, you have to become a committed voter, and this goes for Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton’s young voters, too.

Young voters helped elect President Barack Obama and re-elect him. But they sat out the midterm elections, giving the House of Representatives to the Republicans, who obstructed the president and Democrats. And that omission denied him and the Democrats the opportunity to make the changes we all want.

To get the change we want, you and your children and grandchildren must vote every time. As a former Omaha City Council member, a volunteer organizer for the National Women’s Political Caucus, a plaintiff’s employment-discrimination lawyer and as a passionate and consistent voter and mother and grandmother, I urge you to make voting your lifelong commitment to democracy.

Mary Kay Green

Lee’s Summit

Hero Petraeus

David Petraeus is one of the greatest military minds of our era. He snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the Iraq war and handed a slam dunk to the Obama administration.

Instead of capitalizing on this victory, President Barack Obama replaced a generation of political and military success in the Middle East with the specter of a nuclear-armed Iran and a cult of death that has metastasized throughout the world.

While Gen. Petraeus’ name has been dragged through the mud for his indiscretions, the Obama administration released 6,000 federal inmates to ease overcrowding or because their sentences were deemed too harsh.

The crimes committed by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton outweigh anything Gen. Petraeus did, yet she continues to receive a pass from the radical media.

This follows a pattern by the Obama administration of purging the most capable generals from the ranks of our military leadership. The ferocity of this silent purge was surpassed only by those carried out by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in the 1930s.

If anyone deserves consideration for the mistakes he made, it is a hero like Gen. Petraeus, not thousands of dope peddlers or crooked politicians like Clinton.

Gregory H. Bontrager

Hutchinson, Kan.

This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Readers share thoughts on abortion, Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders."