Reader questions support for care of children after birth by opponents of Roe v. Wade

A few questions

As the Supreme Court prepares to overturn Roe v. Wade, and our governor plans to implement even more extreme anti-abortion laws, I have a few questions for my pro-life friends.

I understand they care for the unborn before they become babies, but what about after they come into the world?

Do pro-life folks adopt the unwanted children? Or at least help the struggling mothers with their money and their time? Do they sponsor children in childcare so that the mother who wasn’t ready to be a mother can work to support her child?

Do they vote for people who support Medicaid expansion and funding for education to help the child thrive? Do they contribute to food banks? Or volunteer with Big Brothers? Do they donate to housing projects so the child has a safe place to live?

And what about guns? Surely they support gun safety to protect the child from school shootings.

Pro-life supporters say that “pro-life” isn’t about controlling women’s bodies. If that’s true, they can show us, through their actions, if it really means caring for the sanctity of the living.

Carla Damron, Columbia

Support Alzheimer’s work

One in three seniors dies with Alzheimer’s or another dementia. To me that is more than just a statistic. It’s personal. I lost my grandmother to Alzheimer’s just before I turned 14, and now I have the privilege to advocate in her memory.

I just returned from the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement Advocacy Forum in Washington, D.C. While there, I met with Congressman Joe Wilson’s staff to explain why Congress must continue to prioritize Alzheimer’s legislation.

Two of our main asks were support of the NAPA Reauthorization Act and the Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act which would ensure the nation continues prioritizing Alzheimer’s legislation as well as the Comprehensive Care for Alzheimer’s Act which would streamline the complex way dementia care is currently delivered. We are also asking for support of the ENACT Act and appropriations for research and public-health infrastructure.

As a public-health professional, I recognize the importance of acting on this critical legislation. Please join me and the Alzheimer’s Association in encouraging Congressman Joe Wilson, as well as Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott to invest in policies that address the national public-health crisis of Alzheimer’s disease.

Laura Joseph, Cayce

Step up, parents

I wonder if the open carry gun law in South Carolina is the reason untrained people who carry a gun can cause another incident like what happened at the Columbiana Centre?

Shootings almost every weekend somewhere in the state. Kids taking a gun to school. Where does a 7-year-old get a gun?

Parents need to be vigilant in keeping guns locked up and the key somewhere secure.

Sure the pandemic has been trying; however, violence never solves anything.

As parents and adults, we should come together, get involved with our kids and put down the guns and phones and give them a safer place to grow up.

Linda Parsons, Columbia

Traffic laws matter

In 1951, I got my first drivers’ license and saved enough money to buy an old Studebaker coupe. After leaving high school one afternoon, I was stopped by Officer Meyers who gave me a ticket for slowing down but not stopping completely at two of the five stop signs in residential areas on my way home. When writing the ticket, he asked, “Do you think stop signs are just suggestions?”

Since that time, I have owned many cars, and have driven thousands of miles; however, I have never received a second ticket.

Why? Because, after receiving my first ticket, I took the time and effort to learn, respect, and strictly observe traffic laws -- especially those related to stop signs, traffic lights and speed limits.

So, like Officer Meyers asked me in 1951, let me ask you today, “Do you think current traffic laws are just suggestions?”

Hopefully, your answer is “No, the laws are much more than that!”

And, you might prophetically add: “They are there to make our traffic flow more safely, rapidly, and smoothly.”

Whenever we can, let’s remind everyone that “traffic laws are not just suggestions”!

Terry M. Frame, Columbia