Opinion articles provide independent perspectives on key community issues, separate from our newsroom reporting.

Letters to the Editor

Reader urges state to allow S.C. voters to decide abortion issue at the ballot box

People rally outside the South Carolina Statehouse as members of the South Carolina House of Representatives prepare to vote on legislation related to an abortion ban in the state on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022.
People rally outside the South Carolina Statehouse as members of the South Carolina House of Representatives prepare to vote on legislation related to an abortion ban in the state on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022. tglantz@thestate.com

Put it on the ballot

I recently watched the S.C. House of Representatives debate H.5399, a ban on abortion with limited exception for the life of the mother. I, as a woman, am frightened when the government interferes with our healthcare, and I am mystified by men in positions of power who pontificate on matters that they have never, and will never, experience.

I also observed as Rep. Krystle Matthews, D-Berkeley, requested that the bill be revised as a ballot initiative and let voters decide on the question of abortion bans. The motion was tabled immediately. To be honest, it was the only sensible idea I heard at the hearing.

Every pregnancy, like every woman, is unique. Reproductive health should be in the hands of a woman and her doctor. We are the experts when it comes to our lives, our bodies, and our children. We should be the ones to make the rules.

Put the abortion ban bill on the ballot and let us decide.

Florence Barba, Myrtle Beach

Graham’s stunning threat

It is a pathetic spectacle to see our senator, Lindsey Graham, threatening violence in defense of a corrupt politician.

Sen. Graham said that if Trump was prosecuted for “mishandling classified information” then “…there will be riots in the streets.”

The ex-president did not “mishandle” classified information. He knowingly took and refused to return classified documents, treating them as his personal property.

Sen. Graham needs to understand that the bulk of our citizens, who are loyal to the United States, do not condone lawless violence masquerading as “freedom,” such as we saw last year on Jan. 6.

If Sen. Graham truly believes in “law and order” and “justice,” he should welcome the Justice Department’s investigation of former President Trump.

If he does not, he, and others like him, interested only in riches and power, should be voted out.

Palmira Brummett, Beaufort

Stop the noise

Hilton Head Island should adopt noiseless fireworks to protect our wildlife and pets.

Most of all, they would allow our young children to sleep.

Randy Field, HHI

Schools need competition

I have been reading your negative comments about funding of Christian Learning Centers of Greenville.

Your thoughts on public education are way off base. Many public schools are absolutely dysfunctional no matter how much money they get.

America needs competition of charter, private schools, etc., to give our kids a fighting chance, particularly minority kids.

Do you have kids or grandkids? If so, what schools do they attend? I ask because many advocates of public education make sure their children go nowhere near a dysfunctional public school.

Tom Collins, Bluffton

This story was originally published September 11, 2022 at 6:00 AM.

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