Newest abortion bill calling for death penalty stuns and infuriates Columbia voters

Insanity prevails

The legislature has lost its mind.

Let me get this straight. A man ends up not only killing his wife with a gun, and blowing his own son’s brains out with another gun, and gets life in prison.

However a woman makes a mistake, has an abortion for one reason or another, and a few clowns in our legislature want to put a needle in her arm and kill her.

Our magistrates let potential arrested felons who have attempted murder on their record out on bond. Our judges give long term prison sentences for nickel-dime drug infractions, and now let’s kill any and all women who make choices for their bodies and have to have an abortion.

I may be against abortion in some cases, but I have no right to condemn a woman to the gas chamber. Neither does the S.C. Legislature.

Pat Clark, Columbia

Preserving life?

I appreciate the irony of the recent headline: “Abortions in SC could be punished with death penalty,” thereby taking two lives when those who wish to prevent abortions claim to want to preserve lives.

Elizabeth Russell, Columbia

Who are we?

So we fought the Taliban in Afghanistan, and decry the way the Taliban rules now in Afghanistan.

And yet we have Rep. Rob Harris, R-Spartanburg, proposing the South Carolina Pre-Natal Equal Protection Act which would prosecute women who have an abortion, either sending them to prison for 30 years or imposing the death penalty.

Of course, the men who impregnate these women have no concerns, and may just run for the House in the next election.

Stan Frick, Columbia

“Scout Master” pride

The news of a new car/truck plant in Blythewood with the product named Scout brings back memories.

The first Scout was built in my hometown, Ft. Wayne, Ind. The International Harvester plant was the largest truck plant in the nation, employing 10,000 workers at one point. Among them were my father, brother and me.

In the mid- to late 1950s, plans were started to build a different kind of vehicle, part utility/part passenger. Dad was on the development team. A separate building was outfitted to build the Scout, the smallest truck in the Harvester line.

Eventually, Dad became the man in charge of the Scout assembly.

Until he retired in the early 1970s, some of the plant workers called him “The Scout Master.” He was truly proud of the truck produced at his plant.

Sadly, the entire plant closed during the 1980s.

Decades later, another Scout is born. An electric one. Near where I live in retirement.

Every mention of the original Scout proudly reminds me of my dad, the original “Scout Master.”

Joe Tonsing, Lexington

Heartbroken voter

I’d thought Richard Eckstrom’s stunt was outrageous when some years ago he checked out a State owned minivan for a family vacation trip to Minnesota, but later got a pass from the State Ethics Commission.

Now to see that Gov. Henry McMaster has demurred on taking Comptroller General Eckstrom to the woodshed for being unable to account $3.5 billion is a disappointment, but certainly no surprise. The governor’s rationale is no surprise either: he said he didn’t want to make it a political issue, like those Democrats have done with blaming poor Donald Trump for that boyish prank on Jan. 6.

Given what has happened to the once-revered GOP, our democracy is on life support and it ain’t looking good.

We’re in real trouble and I’m heartbroken.

George Martin, Chapin

Feds helped here

I covered the Alexander Murdaugh trial as an independent journalist, working alongside reporters from The State, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Court TV, the Law & Crime Network and other national and international media platforms.

I was struck by the volume of county, state, and federal resources employed and deployed during the trial, especially assistance and support from the FBI and Secret Service to unlock cell phones; to extract and analyze computer and GPS data; and to hasten select forensic processing.

Too often, some elected officials here in South Carolina decry the federal government to gain political advantage.

In this instance, technical assistance and support provided by the “big government” resources of the FBI and Secret Service proved critical.

Vasilisa Hamilton, Columbia