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Anna Eshoo is known
quantity in Congress
Vote for Rep. Anna Eshoo, congressional District 16, on June 7.
Please don’t be fooled by a smear campaign and false accusations. Anna Eshoo is the most effective and most empathetic legislator I have ever seen. Just do your own research and my observations will be proven. I find the SmartVoter site by the League of Women Voters to be a convenient single source.
Richard Blish
Saratoga
Past errors rear heads
with abortion rollback
Being a woman of child-bearing age in America is not a crime. Becoming pregnant by rape is not a voluntary choice. Impregnation through incest is deemed criminal regardless of intent. Women legally declared mentally incompetent cannot voluntarily consent to their own pregnancy.
Our Thirteenth Amendment states: “Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.”
For any “textualist,” any ban on abortion requiring a female to hazard her health and life to pregnancy’s risks when that pregnancy resulted from any rape, incest or sexual activity when she lacked competency for mature consent, creates “involuntary servitude,” which is unequivocally banned.
No state may ignore this prohibition.
The fundamental human right to be free of anyone else’s dictate over that individual’s fate is not sex-specific. Let’s not repeat our past errors.
George Cole
Menlo Park
Help kids, neighbors
honor Memorial Day
This year communities across our country will be celebrating Memorial Day on May 30. Memorial Day was first known as Decoration Day. The first Decoration Day was observed on May 30, 1886, at Arlington Cemetery to honor the fallen Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War.
After World War I, Memorial Day was established to honor men and women in the United States military who died protecting freedom. Memorial Day is a very significant holiday in our country. Cities and towns commemorate Memorial Day with meaningful ceremonies. I encourage everyone to honor our fallen military this Memorial Day. Fly the American flag and demonstrate patriotic spirit. Invite family and friends to attend a Memorial Day observance in your community. Teach your children and grandchildren the value of our freedom and the deep meaning of Memorial Day.
Laurel Perusa
Saratoga
Amid invisible scars
treat others kindly
As I come up on my second year of recovery, I can’t help but be so proud of myself. My drinking ruined friendships and relationships, and it landed me in numerous dangerous situations to the point that I am surprised to still be alive today.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but I recognize that I turned to alcohol to mend heartaches in me, not realizing that I was causing them in others. I may have stopped drinking, but I am still coping with my traumas and stress in unhealthy ways. One day, I’ll eat right and exercise more — but I recognize that I can only deal with one addiction at a time, one day at a time.
I write this as a plea to the community to be kind. On the outside, addiction may look like a careless mother or a reckless teenager. But on the inside, you may find pain.
Melissa Rodriguez
San Jose
To get to gun control,
define a militia
In his opinion piece (“Why America never acts to reduce mass shootings,” Page A7, May 19) Mark Z. Barabak concludes by writing that “Congress will fail to pass meaningful gun control legislation.” He does not mention the reason: The courts have sided with gun control opponents who cite the Second Amendment.
There is a simple solution. Congress should simply pass a law making it clear and compelling that the only “well regulated Militia” is the National Guard. So if you want to indulge your macho fantasies with semi- or fully-automatic weapons (including handguns), you must join up. If you are too young, too old or too infirm, sorry.
Once passed, a follow-up law outlawing all semi-automatic weapons would become constitutional in line with the Second Amendment.
If you really think you need a gun for self-protection, a pump-action shotgun is the weapon of choice, even now.
Herb Engstrom
San Jose
Source: www.mercurynews.com