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Wednesday's letters: Bill is an invitation to lawsuit chaos

 
Published Feb. 14, 2017

Proposal opens doctors to abortion suits for 10 years | Feb. 10

An invitation to lawsuit chaos

No one is more prolife — or antiabortion, call it what you will — than I.

However, HB 19, the proposed Florida legislation that would allow a woman to file suit against her abortion doctor, is dead wrong.

To many of us who consider abortion the taking of a life, we also trust that God will deal with all those involved with an abortion in His own way and in His own time. Post-abortion regret could possibly be one method.

Society has a poor success rate with regard to the legislation of morality. Obviously the decision to go through with an abortion is a serious one for many women, and attempts have been made by states to compel some sort of waiting period to offer time for contemplation. But once that legally protected choice is made, it is made.

HB 19 will do nothing to help reduce the number of abortions and will only open the door for frivolous litigation regarding a heinous procedure. Please, legislators, do not waste your time on HB 19.

Kenn Sidorewich, Oldsmar

Honor voters' wishes | Feb. 10, letter

Troubling nominees

The chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, in a letter to the editor, exposed his ignorance of reality. He said Donald Trump was elected in "an electoral landslide" when almost 3 million more voters voted for Hillary Clinton and her agenda. If we were a democracy instead of a representative republic and followed the will of the people, Trump would be hosting a TV show.

The accusation that "Democrats are blindly obstructing the president's nominees" is laughable when the secretary of energy wants to dismantle the Energy Department and the secretary of education wants to use taxpayer money to pay for students to attend private schools. So while almost all of our elected Republicans are blindly acceding to Trump's wishes, including Marco Rubio, I urge both of Florida's senators, Rubio and Bill Nelson, to vote down Neil Gorsuch — a judge who believes a person's religious beliefs should supersede following the law of the land.

Elton Fowler, Tampa

Setting a bad example

Each day as I read or listen to people constantly rip apart President Donald Trump, I wonder what kind of an example the politicians and press are setting for our youth. Like it or not, Trump is the president and the office deserves respect.

Millions of people did not like Barack Obama, his policies and a world "apology tour" knocking the United States. But I do not recall the press saying a derogatory word, nor do I recall rioting, marches and the filth being spewed as there is with Trump.

I think it is a shame the way our press, politicians and adults are acting; they are setting a very poor example for our impressionable youths.

Albert Ravenna, St. Pete Beach

Governor rallies support to keep state incentives | Feb. 14

On this, I support Scott

Up until this point I have not shared anything with Gov. Rick Scott except for a haircut. However, in a sign of the crazy times that we are living in, I must admit that I am in complete agreement with him on one issue. Tourism is vital to the Florida economy. Florida is currently seeing over 100 million visitors a year. This supports over a million Florida jobs in the tourism industry.

Obviously we have the great weather and beautiful beaches to thank for a lot of this. However, the Florida tourism agencies also play a huge role in bringing these visitors to our area and supporting our economy.

I strongly condemn Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran's effort to remove funding from these agencies.

Matthew Paulson, Tampa

Deregulation

Stop cruelty to animals

President Donald Trump is doing many things he threatened to do while campaigning, such as pursuing a deregulation agenda. But there is a despicable aspect of that agenda not receiving much attention. The Trump administration recently ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to remove animal welfare inspection reports and other information about the treatment of animals from its website, supposedly out of privacy concerns, even though personal identifying information was not included in the data.

In reality, it seems the reports were removed at the request of businesses that may have been cited for violations related to animal cruelty, neglect or abuse. The data removed is collected as a result of inspections carried out to enforce provisions of the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act, laws passed by Congress to help protect animals from being mistreated by commercial enterprises including zoos, circuses, animal research facilities, and animal breeders and transporters.

Brian Klippenstein, executive director of Protect the Harvest, a Missouri-based nonprofit animal agriculture organization, is currently leading the USDA under the Trump administration, pending confirmation of a new secretary of the department. In 2010, Protect the Harvest opposed passage of a bill in Missouri called the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act. Protect the Harvest opposes the animal rights movement, particularly the Humane Society of the United States.

George Howlett, Tampa

Housing boom rises from teardowns Feb. 10

Too many are too big

As a resident of the Old Northeast, I was pleased to read in this article that the zoning department is considering tighter restrictions on new residential construction. While I am a lover of historic preservation, I do understand that a certain amount of demolition and building is not necessarily a bad thing.

What bothers me is the sheer size of most of these new houses. Many take up most of the lot, leaving little green space. They tower over other homes. I understand that the city receives more property taxes for bigger homes, but we need to take the long view and not let greed drive the transformation of our beautiful neighborhoods.

Sidney Wilson, St. Petersburg