Wednesday letters: These issues aren’t ‘tangential’

While I would have preferred that they endorse my campaign for the House, I respect the privilege of The State’s editorial staff to make the choice they think best.

But I disagree with their description of some of my priorities — “an abortion bill and an expansion of the program that pays some parents to abandon the public schools” and “the need to have more people carrying concealed weapons in more places” — as “tangential to the problems our Legislature needs to be grappling with.”

South Carolina’s tax-credit scholarship program allows a limited tax deduction to taxpayers who donate to organizations that provide scholarships for students with exceptional needs. It is at best an exaggeration to characterize this program as one that “pays some parents to abandon the public schools.”

As for abortion, while it is not particularly pleasant to discuss, there is abundant scientific evidence that an unborn child at 20 weeks of development has the capacity to suffer pain. Based on this evidence, the House passed the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act this year. Unfortunately, it was not taken up by the Senate. Also unfortunate was that Rep. Beth Bernstein was among the few to vote against this bill.

I respect Rep. Bernstein, her service to her community and the fact that she has run a positive campaign. We agree on some issues. But I believe that the issues on which we disagree are important, not “tangential.”

Jeff Mobley

Columbia

This story was originally published October 29, 2014 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Wednesday letters: These issues aren’t ‘tangential’."