Portman should support repeal of global gag rule

Sen. Rob Portman fails his constituents by choosing ideology over health care. By refusing to co-sponsor the Global Health, Empowerment and Rights Act, Portman allows mounting stigma coupled with legal restrictions on abortion care to place women and people’s health at risk.

This legislation would permanently repeal Trump’s global gag rule and ensure that U.S. funding is available for clinics that provide comprehensive health care to vulnerable communities around the world. The gag rule is crippling health-care organizations and silencing the medical practitioners who vowed to provide lifesaving, comprehensive care. This cruel policy mandates that health clinics, organizations, programs and hospitals make the impossible choice between losing U.S. funding or withholding accurate and complete reproductive health care and information.

I urge Portman to cosponsor the Global HER Act to stand up for health care access and reproductive rights for all.

Chloe Bradley, #Fight4her student organizer, Ohio State University, Columbus

Don’t worry about pain perpetrator would feel

There have been many articles, movements and discussions about how to execute people sentenced to death for their crimes in a way that is not “cruel and unusual.” The sentence is imposed as a part of the process of providing justice for the victim and their family and friends. Another part of this process is completing an autopsy on the victim to definitively prove the cause of death. Many times, the murder weapon has been secured during the course of the investigation into the crime.

Let the victim speak one last time. Was the victim shot? Stabbed? Suffocated? Then that should be the manner in how the execution is carried out. Shows like “Weaponology,” “Forged in Fire” and “Mythbusters” have regularly showcased equipment that could be used so that no one has to experience taking a person’s life.

Is this cruel? Yes. There will be pain, but only for a short period. How much pain did the victims endure before their premature end of life? What kind of terror did they have to endure? Am I being compassionate toward the victims, their families and friends? Yes. Toward the perpetrator? No. Did they express any for the victim, their family or friends? No.

I am sure that many people will take a much different viewpoint than mine. That is OK. Just don’t condemn a person until you walk a mile in their shoes. Or take a ride on their autopsy gurney. Scott V. Alexander, Columbus

Will answers unfold about station’s debt?

Concerning the fate of WCBE and based on my own very limited experience with a similar radio station, there is more going on than has been reported (“Nonprofit may pay debt, take over WCBE,” Dispatch article, Tuesday). First of all, I can’t believe that National Public Radio would ever allow such a massive debt for programming. As I see it, you don’t pay, you don’t get the programming.

Also, I want to know why the debt was never recorded. Could general manager Dan Mushalko be hiding something? As a nonprofit,wcbe’s books are open for all to see. I am sure the internal audit will find these answers; I just hope the findings are also made public. Val Tekaucic, Columbus

Alternative energy needed now more than ever

According to a November Associated Press survey, 7 in 10 Americans believe climate change is happening. Sixty percent of those Americans say climate change is “caused mostly or entirely by humans.” Seventy-four percent say that extreme weather over the past five years has influenced their views on the subject. It's getting harder to deny that the climate is changing and that a supermajority (97 percent) of the scientific community agrees that humans are significant contributors (if not the cause).

I want to see Sens. Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown, as well as my representative, Troy Balderson, support regulatory action that will increase efficiency and reduce pollution, especially for corporations. I want to see them support laws that make it easier for citizens to live consciously, to reduce their carbon footprint, to lower their use of natural gas and propane and electricity.

I expect to see them support alternative energy, such as wind and solar, to reduce the impact our energy use has on the climate and the environment in general. Andrew Hartley, Lewis Center

Costa Ricans accept life with immigrants

I respond to the Wednesday letter "Democrats gain power via illegal immigrants" from Linda Bishop. Within the content of the letter, the author cited Costa Rica as an example of a country that does not have an illegalimmigration problem.

I lived in Costa Rica for a time. In fact, I was going through the immigration process there before deciding to return back to the U.S. I have even visited Panama and have seen its border crossings with Costa Rica.

When she says Costa Rica doesn't have an illegalimmigration problem, I respectfully disagree. The Costa Ricans, or Ticos, will frequently tell you that they share a similar migrant issue of primarily Nicaraguans coming across the shared border to work in the menial service-sector and agricultural jobs similar to what our own migrants do here in the U.S. Both their government and their people acknowledge this.

Some Ticos are intolerant of their northern neighbors "bringing crime and violence," but most recognize these people as hardworking and peaceful. As a result, most Ticos live up to their reputation of being welcoming and very kind to all visitors and foreign residents.

Bishop's tour guides were right to warn against giving out money to every person who approaches them in the street, but that example has little to do with immigration issues in any country. Pura vida!

Conor Golden, Columbus

Pharmacists stretched too thin for safety

CVS has severely cut back staffing in local pharmacies, expecting a lone pharmacist to simultaneously confirm appropriate medication and dosage, check for drug interactions and allergies, answer the telephone, fill prescriptions, counsel patients, run the cash register, answer questions on over-thecounter drugs and vitamins, etc., for long hours without pharmacy-technician support, often without the ability to take a bathroom break.

This is a prescription for tragedy. It is inevitable that a serious, perhaps fatal, error will occur when the pharmacist is spread so thinly. Given the recent coverage of overdose fatalities at Mount

Carmel West hospital and the questionable business practices of CVS Caremark, I strongly suggest the appropriate authorities challenge this short-sighted cost-cutting decision before tragedy occurs.

Belle Gademer, Gahanna

Connecting courthouses could improve security

Actions to replace the aged Franklin County Municipal Court building are being advanced ("Verdict is in," Dispatch article, Monday). Construction of a new building presents opportunities for officials to address long-standing issues in courthouse security and court operations.

If the new municipal court building is constructed at S. High and Main streets, connection to the adjacent Franklin County Common Pleas Courthouse is possible, allowing for continued access to all the city and county government facilities located west of High. Where possible, minimizing the number of entry points into a building is a benchmark found in all security studies. More importantly, adoption of a unified security plan under the direction of a single unit would eliminate the current situation where responsibility for building security is shared among different groups operating with different procedures and different response protocols.

Construction of a new building also allows for the opportunity to co-locate Common Pleas Court probation and Municipal Court probation using shared adjacent space, allowing for shared use of common resources such as labs, training and reception areas, and minimizing any duplication of supervision between courts (see County Government Center Facilities Master Plan – Phase 2, Mar. 2012, Recommendation No. 13).

James A. Goodenow, Columbus