Planned Parenthood's war on health
4/24/2012The Blade's April 20 editorial "Protect women's health" criticized the Ohio House of Representatives' action to advance a measure that will provide much-needed funding to community health centers and local departments of health. As Ohio's leading voice of the pro-life movement, we want to correct the record.
Planned Parenthood is the nation's largest abortion provider. Its representatives testify against late-term abortion bans and women's informed-consent laws. More than 90 percent of pregnant women who walk into Planned Parenthood facilities choose abortion, according to its annual report. Planned Parenthood is the golden goose of the abortion industry.
Planned Parenthood promotes sex to its clients through a Web site called wheredid youwearit.com that promotes a "check-in" so that teens can tell their friends where they're having sex.
Contraception is not 100 percent effective, leading to unplanned pregnancies that most often in Planned Parenthood's case lead to abortion. Its promotion of more sex equals more abortions, which means more money for its coffers.
You claim Planned Parenthood's clinics "offer advice on family planning and prenatal care." That statement is misleading at best. The "advice" that it offers about prenatal care is basically a referral to go somewhere else.
The Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies provides family-planning services and prenatal care in Appalachian Ohio. This legislation would improve opportunities for its 50 agency members, which would serve poor women in rural Ohio.
Preventing taxpayer dollars from going to Planned Parenthood is not a war on women. Abortion can hurt women, emotionally and physically. More than half of aborted babies are girls; this is the real war on women.
Mike Gonidakis
President Ohio Right to Life Columbus
Shouldn't we care about human life?
Everything we have is a gift from God. We are to take care of these gifts.
We care about animals, birds, pets, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. But are we to care more about these things than we are to care about a human life or a baby in a mother's womb?
Mike Dodson
Brownstone Boulevard
Lights still leave community in dark
On Feb. 13, The Blade published my letter about the dangers posed by streetlight outages in Toledo, especially lights that have been out for nearly a year ("Streetlight outages pose danger," Readers' Forum). There was an accompanying editor's note: "Toledo Edison said several streetlights have not been working in the Eastway Street area because of infrastructure construction. The utility said repairs to the lights are forthcoming."
At my last count, 53 streetlights were out within walking distance of my house, including lights I wrote about in February. These are the same lights that we were told were repaired last December.
Repairs may be forthcoming, but how many years will they take? Meanwhile, streetlight outages promote crime and potential violence.
There may be legitimate reasons why the lights are out, but these reasons have now become excuses.
Who has to die or be seriously injured before Toledo Edison finally repairs the outages? The promises don't work anymore.
Mark Simon
Eastway Street
Editor's note: A city engineering official said road and sewer improvements and natural gas line replacements in the Library Village area "require underground excavation that can sometimes disrupt existing utilities. This has caused some disruption in streetlight feeds. If concerned citizens know about streetlight outages, we encourage them to contact the city or Toledo Edison so that we can schedule the necessary repairs."
Walkers in dark pose traffic hazard
In the past few months, I've noticed an increased number of times when, driving at night, I am barely able to discern people walking across heavy traffic in the dark.
Often the people are wearing dark clothes, and my headlights do not pick them up. I only see them in silhouette as they walk in front of another light source.
Friends tell me they have encountered the same thing in other parts of town. I ask people to use common sense to protect themselves against getting hit in the dark.
Do not jaywalk, wear light-colored clothing, and try to cross where there is a streetlight. Parents should teach their children to do the same.
I am concerned that some night someone will be hit by a car in the street, because the driver did not see the pedestrian in his or her path.
Linda Carter
Juliet Drive
Injured workers' bill out of line
Nothing is more onerous and violative of basic constitutional rights than a government agency forcing citizens to undergo treatment with a physician they do not choose. The passage of a bill before the Ohio General Assembly would force injured workers to be treated only by certain doctors, and force treatments those doctors recommend ("Speedier return to job urged for injured workers," April 18).
This country has a history of legal safeguards to protect people from being forced to undergo treatment against their will. Forced treatment violates our most basic personal freedom.
Yet state Rep. Barbara Sears (R., Monclova Township), a sponsor of the bill, and Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation Administrator Steve Buehrer want to require injured workers to undergo treatment they may not agree with, or be comfortable with. Apparently Representative Sears believes that forcing treatment on injured workers gets claimants back to work more quickly.
I have represented injured workers for more than 20 years. One of my clients' biggest frustrations is the failure of the system to provide prompt, high-quality treatment after injury, which delays their ability to get better and return to work.
Forcing injured workers to undergo treatment with physicians they do not choose is the opposite of what my clients want, or deserve. It would only lengthen their disability.
There are other ways to get injured workers back to work more swiftly and safely, such as providing incentives for employers to offer light-duty positions to injured workers.
Representative Sears and Administrator Buehrer should consider other proposals to reduce disability, rather than forcing treatment on workers who are injured through no fault of their own.
Thomas Schaffer
Partner Gallon, Takacs, Boissoneault, & Schaffer Sylvania Township
Oil companies not helping gas prices
Oil companies haven't done anything to help keep oil and gasoline prices down ("More hikes in gasoline prices loom, experts say; Refinery maintenance will tighten supplies," April 4).
Oil companies are trying to make it as tough as possible on President Obama. It's time to get away from oil dependence by using more fuel-efficient cars and other energy sources, such as windmills.
Roland Scharer
Holland
Canada's eyeing of Asia to hurt U.S.
A Canadian oil company plans to build a pipeline to its west coast to ship oil to Asia, according to the Wall Street Journal. There goes our chance for a glut of oil that would lower gasoline prices.
President Obama and his staff can be thanked for doing this by rejecting a pipeline to run through our country. He may have received excellent marks in speech class, but it looks as though he might have flunked math.
Robert Schuster
Elmore, Ohio