Best to take a broad view of what pro-life means

As a parishioner of St. Anne Catholic Church and a person deeply concerned about the future of our country, I am also pro-life. Being pro-life calls for a lot more than taking a position on a single issue, even one such as important as abortion.

If a person is to be truly prolife, then that should mean taking a much broader view of what we can do as a nation to address an unacceptably high infant mortality rate, inadequate health care, income inequality and disdain for the less fortunate, whether they be from here or elsewhere (“Faith-based voters can’t be stereotyped,” Our View, Oct. 31).

To be pro-life should mean support for better access to quality health care for those who need it; the strengthening of our nation’s public education system, reduction of the income inequalities that have been intensified by the last round of tax cuts favoring the rich; empathy for the immigrants who seek a better life here and made the United States of America the great country it is, and action to deal with the negative impact of the industrial revolution on the environment and the extinction of many species.

I’ll be voting pro-life this year, but maybe in a different way than the Rev. Larry Brito believes I should.

I just wish he and the Catholic Church would be far more forceful about this broader view of what being pro-life should really mean. Jim Brown

Santa Fe

Write-in alternative

Heather Nordquist is the write-in Democratic candidate for House District 46. She is challenging Andrea Romero, whose name appears on the ballot.

Nordquist grew up in the village of El Rancho, in Santa Fe County, and is a senior scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. She works there on nuclear safeguards, making sure that nuclear material used for peaceful purposes — typically energy production and medical procedures — is not diverted and used to make weapons. She worked many years as a community activist, and her contribution was crucial to solve the longstanding issue of the contested roads within the pueblo boundaries in the Santa Fe County.

Please fight against corruption and the habit of lying that is pervading politics in our country like a cancer, from the White House to this race in New Mexico.

Write “Heather Nordquist” in the space below Andrea Romero’s name and fill the bubble next to your handwriting. Elena Guardincerri

physicist Los Alamos National Laboratory Jacona, N.M.

Conscience voting

My wife and I recently attended the movie, Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer. Filmmakers did an excellent job of showing the atrocities committed by Dr. Kermit Gosnell. This coming election is crucial.

Please vote for pro-life candidates. End-of-life legislation will be heard in the next legislative session. We can put an end to New Mexico being the late-term abortion capitol of the world. Gilbert L. Pino

Santa Fe

Miss Congeniality?

State auditor is not the Miss Congeniality of state offices, and yet Brian Colón’s “cheerfulness” is the lead reason for The New Mexican’s endorsement (“Statewide races: Toulouse Oliver, Colón, Eichenberg, Lyons,” Oct. 23). New Mexico would be better served by an auditor who is respected for his commitment to rooting out waste, fraud, abuse and corruption.

As auditor, Wayne Johnson has an impressive record of ensuring the proper use of our tax dollars. This isn’t a PR road show as proposed by Brian Colón, but a tenacious pursuit of the paper trail. Auditing is boring but critical work.

New Mexico will invest more than a billion dollars of “new” money next year. This windfall will be a huge temptation for crony capitalism and pay-to-play. Wayne Johnson’s talent is as a straight shooter committed to transparency, good government and best practices. Wayne Johnson is the people’s choice for state auditor. Denise Greenlaw Ramonas

Santa Fe

Walks the talk

Write-in and color the circle for Heather Nordquist as your vote for House District 46. Heather is honest, ethical and has a great deal of integrity. She’s extremely educated and totally smart on the issues. My family and I have been longtime land owners in the Nambé and Pojoaque valleys dating back more than 100 years. Water, acequia and easement issues have long plagued our quality of life. Heather has been there for us and walks the talk like no other. Northern Santa Fe County and the city of Santa Fe would be lucky to have her representing us.

She’s the right Democrat for the job! JoAnne Vigil Coppler

city councilor Santa Fe

Widen the lens

The full-page ad in the Sunday, Oct. 28, New Mexican ,in giant red letters asks, “Are you a Catholic Voter?” The ad wants us to read the text of the “Statement on the Dignity of Human Life” and to support those candidates who oppose abortion, on the premise that these candidates support the “dignity of the human person from conception to natural death.” Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Pearce may indeed oppose abortion, but he hasn’t shown support of the dignity of the human person when poor, sick, disabled, hungry or homeless. Steve Pearce aligns with Donald Trump to rip children from the arms of their immigrant mothers trying to make a better life for themselves. Does Steve Pearce align his principles with the teachings of Jesus Christ or merely through the very small lens of being anti-abortion? Sometimes we need to increase the lens to see a bigger picture. Jan Lustig

Santa Fe

Irrelevant arrests

With the news that Santa Fe Public Schools Board of Education Secretary Rudy Garcia, who is running for a seat on the Santa Fe County Commission, has a criminal background, including at least four arrests and two weeks in jail on a DWI, you urge mandatory background checks (“Candidates must come clean on backgrounds,” Our View, Oct. 12) for candidates for public office.

Personally, I think Mr. Garcia’s arrests are irrelevant and are his private business. Once a criminal case is closed and the penalty has been imposed, it’s over. Screening people out because they have a criminal past is effectively a life sentence. Arrests without a conviction are totally meaningless because so many arrests are false arrests.

What New Mexico needs is an expungement law that enables people to erase arrest records if there was no conviction, and to erase conviction records once 10 years have elapsed from the date of conviction and the person has stayed clean.

Research and data is online through the Restoration of Rights Project. Linda Chavez

Santa Fe

Consequences

I noticed the not-so-veiled, full-page ad by the Hispanic Action Network in the Sunday Oct. 28, Santa Fe New Mexican. I’m troubled when a candidate is endorsed based on his/her position on one issue.

To me, “right to life” has a much broader definition. Whose life? What kind of life? Do all people fleeing Central American oppression have a right to life without fear and oppression? According to Steve Pearce, no. Are their lives worthy of dehumanizing labels and being stopped at the U.S.-Mexican border by U.S. troops for legally presenting for asylum? What kind of life can average citizens expect when they are denied health care because of earlier illness?

Mr. Pearce’s votes in Congress say none, despite his current campaign statements. Whose lives were improved by the Republican tax bill? None but the wealthy. One-issue endorsements often come with unexpected consequences. Jim Maloney

Santa Fe

What goes around

Before accusing others of “misleading claims” about San Juan Basin drilling, Ryan Flynn might consider: What goes around comes around

(“Misleading claims about San Juan pool rule changes,” Oct. 23).

Assume what Flynn says is true — the opposition “simply railed against any oil and gas [with] no understanding.” Public ignorance often comes from being misled, and Flynn, head of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, and formerly Gov. Susana Martinez’s idea of an environment secretary, has misled plenty.

Flynn’s piece in The New Mexican completely failed to explain what a “pool rule” is. Instead of making his case, Flynn railed against the public. This fits the industry’s history — obfuscating mineral ownership; getting cheap leases by divide-and-conquer; touting jobs and revenues that evaporate with each bust; and deliberately, with ExxonMobil millions, inventing climate denial. Like Patrick Lyons and Steve Pearce, Flynn’s allegiance is to a disingenuous industry. Kim Sorvig

Santa Fe

Better for the land

The State Land Office’s fiduciary mission — use state trust lands to generate income, grow our financial portfolio, fund schools, colleges and hospitals — was not fully accomplished when Patrick Lyons was land commissioner (“Statewide races: Toulouse Oliver, Colón, Eichenberg, Lyons,” Our View, Oct. 23).

Ivy League-educated, Stephanie Garcia Richard, chairwoman of the House Education Committee, an educator supporting early childhood education, is the better candidate for state land commissioner. She’s voted to protect public lands, invest in renewable energy, and hold oil and gas companies to the same standards as other industries.

The Supreme Court overturned Lyons’ land swap around White Peak that cut off access for hunters.

Ethical? Lyons rejects early childhood education to improve New Mexico. Why? Fact check his career: www.lyinlyons.com. Karyl Ann Armbruster

public education commissioner

District 4 Los Alamos