Is Kansas Women’s Right to Know Act necessary, or just anti-abortion pressure? | Opinion

Support Medicaid, senators

Contact senators Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall to demand they support Medicaid. Hospitals and nursing homes depend on Medicare/Medicaid to stay afloat.

These payments help cover unpaid patient bills, which will likely skyrocket due to recently cut federal jobs, lost private insurance and tariffs.

As the effects of tariffs take hold, fewer available goods and fear of job cuts will contribute to decreased spending and more lost jobs, further stretching the budgets of hospitals which are required by law to care for anyone showing up to an emergency room.

Unintended consequences of cutting Medicaid? It will be a disaster in rural Kansas. Hospitals, clinics and nursing homes already on life-support, will fail.

Larger sized providers in urban areas will be overwhelmed as their ER’s try to respond.

Lost healthcare jobs, which along with schools serve as the financial backbone in rural communities, will leave Kansas with more dying towns. This will affect their ability to provide basic services like fire and police protection.

Kansas farmers will be further compromised. Kansas citizens and communities will needlessly die.

Rural folk know this. You are uniquely prepared and positioned to remind our senators of their duty to protect you and the world you feed.

Write more about Wu

I am writing to fulfill a requirement for the Communications merit badge in Boy Scouts. As someone who will be voting soon and who cares about our city, I respectfully ask that The Wichita Eagle publish more articles on Mayor Lily Wu’s impact on Wichita.

Since her election, I have heard very little about what she has done for the city — only occasional remarks about her failure to deliver on campaign promises.

In an effort to better inform Wichita voters, I encourage you to provide more in-depth coverage of her policies and actions.

Abortion pressure

I am writing today to bring some awareness and bring up some concerns that come along with Kansas Statute 65-6709, part of the Women’s Right to Know Act.

This law says that woman seeking abortions must receive extensive, detailed information to make sure that their choice is voluntary, and that they give informed consent.

This law also states that at least 24 hours before they have the abortion, the woman must be provided with written materials detailing the physician’s credentials, risks, and alternatives.

However, the concern here that I see is that the law may persuade woman into continuing with the pregnancy out of feeling guilty, because the law states that the providers have to offer ultrasounds and provide for the mother to listen to the baby’s heartbeat, even if the mother declines.

This is where I feel that a mother could start to feel guilty and feel like she is pressured into keeping the baby, and make it hard for her to make a clear choice in what the best option for her is. The extensive waiting periods could create additional barriers.

Appreciate civics teachers

As Kansas celebrates Teacher Appreciation Month this May, we should all reflect upon and honor the unsung heroes of Kansas schools.

Civics teachers.

Civics may not receive the same attention as other subjects, but the work civics teachers perform every day is vital for our students’ education and the future of our country.

At the Bill of Rights Institute, we work with more than 80,000 civics and history teachers nationwide – including nearly 1,500 in Kansas. While many bemoan the current state of discourse in our nation today, civics teachers are essential to helping us build something better.

Civics classes teach students more than how a bill becomes a law. Civics teachers help students understand their rights and responsibilities as citizens and the principles that connect us as Americans, despite our differences. Students also learn to think critically and engage civilly around difficult topics — even with people they disagree with.

These skills are in dire need in our country right now, and we need our civics teachers more than ever. They deserve our ongoing respect for their important work on behalf of students, the State of Kansas, and our nation.