Abortion a key issue in Rick Scott’s campaign | Letters to the editor
Florida faces a crucial decision this November: Abortion is a statewide referendum question and Sen. Rick Scott is up for re-election.
Since the Supreme Court’s 2023 Dobbs decision, conservative anti-abortion policies, including Florida’s six-week ban, have proliferated, barring millions of women from accessing life-saving care. Scott supports these measures and co-sponsored a federal abortion ban as he looks to possibly replace Sen. Mitch McConnell as Senate Republican leader.
Even if Florida passes the Amendment 4 abortion rights ballot measure, Scott’s re-election could catalyze a federal ban, opening the door for even more pervasive attacks on female autonomy and reproductive rights. It’s for that reason that I’m so motivated to vote for U.S. Senate candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who not only defends a woman’s right to choose but actively champions it.
Her unwavering dedication to empowering women in their health care decisions, not leaving it up to men in marble offices, deserves your vote in November, too.
Emily Danzinger, Pembroke Pines
The writer is president of the University of Miami debate team.
Politicians and the NRA
I could not believe Luis Valdes’ pro-gun Viewpoint essay in the Sun Sentinel. In his view, gun-free zones on campuses should be eliminated as unsafe. He recommends “campus carry, plain and simple.” Does he live on another planet? What about the safety of the rest of us?
The problem is inadequate control of safety zones, among other factors. The problems with guns include their ready availability and getting into the hands of violent or mentally disturbed individuals. Take Nikolas Cruz, the mass killer in Parkland, who legally bought a high powered AR-15 rifle and killed 17 people.
Can you imagine Cruz in a state with “open carry” gun laws?
It’s easy to get a gun illegally on the black market, and there many stories of teens shooting each other and others. Sales at gun shows by unlicensed dealers who do not check buyers’ backgrounds has to stop, and sales of converters to modify semiautomatic into automatic rifles has to stop.
Unfortunately, too many legislators fear losing support from the NRA, a group that does far more harm than good to this country.
Martin Winkler, M.D., Fort Lauderdale
The role of private prisons
The author of the May 8 op-ed essay, “Tarring of Mariel arrivals parallels demonization of present-day migrants,” Thomas Kennedy, repeats long-debunked falsehoods about the origin and role of private sector contractors in the U.S. criminal justice and immigration systems.
Governments first began using contractors in the 1980s to address widespread prison overcrowding and dangerous conditions that put incarcerated people’s lives at risk, not because of the Mariel boatlift. Then as now, contractors are a limited but valuable part of the solution to challenges facing our government. Just 7% of imprisoned individuals are in contractor-operated facilities.
It’s also vitally important to remember that contractors play no role in determining immigration policy or enforcing immigration laws. Those decisions made by Congress, judges, juries, law enforcement and other government agencies.
For more than 40 years, contractors have worked with Democratic and Republican administrations to deliver dignified, culturally sensitive, quality care to men and women navigating the criminal justice and immigration systems. Our member companies are subject to strict federal DHS standards of care and multiple levels of government oversight.
Alexandra Wilkes, Washington, D.C.
The writer is spokeswoman for the Day 1 Alliance, a private prison industry trade organization.
Joe Biden? No way
As a conservative Republican, I guarantee you one thing: I will never vote for President Joe Biden.
His policies and those of the Democratic Party are turning this country into a giant dumpster fire. If you Bidenauts are willing to put up with this, I feel sorry for you, for you’re as much of a cult to me as you pretend that Trump voters are to Donald Trump.
My options are limited to Trump or sitting out this election. Unlike Georgia’s befuddled former lieutenant governor, Geoff Duncan, I will not vote for Biden under any circumstances.
Osvaldo Valdes, Hollywood