Reader urges state to allow S.C. voters to decide abortion issue at the ballot box

Put it on the ballot

I recently watched the S.C. House of Representatives debate H.5399, a ban on abortion with limited exception for the life of the mother. I, as a woman, am frightened when the government interferes with our healthcare, and I am mystified by men in positions of power who pontificate on matters that they have never, and will never, experience.

I observed as Rep. Krystle Matthews, D-Berkeley, requested that the bill be revised as a ballot initiative and let voters decide on the question of abortion bans. The motion was tabled immediately. To be honest, it was the only sensible idea I heard at the hearing.

Every pregnancy, like every woman, is unique. Reproductive health should be in the hands of a woman and her doctor. We are the experts when it comes to our lives, our bodies, and our children. We should be the ones to make the rules.

Put the abortion ban bill on the ballot and let us decide.

Florence Barba, Myrtle Beach

Tell us more

The public needs more information about the USC Board Trustees.

A short resume about each board member would be informative.

Explain how someone becomes a board member. How are they selected? What are the politics involved? Are the board members paid for serving? If so, how much? Who determines their compensation?

USC is a multi-million-dollar operation. Are there potential conflicts of interests between any trustee’s business and USC spending or business contracts?

The legislature wanted to restructure the board but what is the “structure”? The good ole boy system with the legislators and board seems intact.

Kim Chillag, Columbia

Graham’s stunning threat

It is a pathetic spectacle to see our senator, Lindsey Graham, threatening violence in defense of a corrupt politician.

Sen. Graham said that if Trump was prosecuted for “mishandling classified information” then “…there will be riots in the streets.”

The ex-president did not “mishandle” classified information. He knowingly took and refused to return classified documents, treating them as his personal property.

Sen. Graham needs to understand that the bulk of our citizens, who are loyal to the United States, do not condone lawless violence masquerading as “freedom,” such as we saw last year on Jan. 6.

If Sen. Graham truly believes in “law and order” and “justice,” he should welcome the Justice Department’s investigation of former President Trump.

If he does not, he, and others like him, interested only in riches and power, should be voted out.

Palmira Brummett, Beaufort

Use retired ships

The homeless population should have an environment of support and safety. There are turn-key residences all over the country in the form of mothball fleets, Navy ships no longer in commission, doomed to be sunk for fish habitats and other environments.

They were good enough for our military heroes to live and fight on, they should be more than good enough to make into a supportive rehabilitation community. They could be connected to the mainland as a dock system into mainstream communities with job training and other programs designed to get people back on their feet.

A color-coded system for each ship could indicate the level of progress being made by that community. Federal government participation along with state and community participation would make this a societal, money-saving moral uplift.

Stephen Mount, Gaston

This story was originally published September 11, 2022 at 6:00 AM.