Lawmaker’s stand hurts women

4/2/2013

If state Rep. Lynn Wachtmann (R., Napoleon) has his way, all women who seek an abortion would be forced to find a basement butcher shop and hope for the best (“Ohio group accuses UT of supporting abortions,” March 27).

Most women who seek abortions have come to the conclusion that it is the only option they have, and it is heart-wrenching at best.

Mr. Wachtmann’s promise to introduce legislation that would prohibit a state-funded entity such as the University of Toledo Medical Center from agreeing to accept transfer patients who suffer complications from an abortion in outpatient surgery is shortsighted. It is a slap in the face to all women.

CAROL HILL
Palmetto Avenue

Wachtmann wrong on health issue

Mr. Wachtmann wants to be sure public hospitals do not treat women who have post-abortion complications. I thought that an emergency room treats any health issue.

But it appears that Mr. Wachtmann and his right-to-life buddies feel they need to determine who is treated and who is not.

KATHERINE KING
Hill Avenue

Technology cuts into job market

A lot of jobs are lost to automation, robots, and other technologies that never will return (“Jobs grow by 236,000 in February; Ohio unemployment rises to 7% in January,” March 9).

Now people are talking about driverless cars, trucks, buses, planes, ships, and trains. The people who work in the technology field are coming up with ways to eliminate work for people faster than we can figure out how to create jobs for them.

Some businesses are trying to figure out how to replace humans with machines. It does not take as many people to maintain these machines as the machines replace.

Technology is great, but we are eliminating ourselves from the job market.

CHARLIE LEININGER
107th Street

Police should live elsewhere

Requiring Toledo police officers to live in the city would be bad for the officers and their families (“Supporting residency,” editorial, March 9).

If a police officer had given a ticket to a neighbor, or if a neighbor had been convicted of a crime, who would guarantee the safety of the officer from retaliation?

In school, other students might pick on the children of a police officer.

It’s better for police officers to live away from the area they patrol, to ensure everyone’s safety.

DAVID BRECHT, SR.
Oregon