‘Misguided efforts’ of state Sen. McLachlan

State Sen. Michael McLachlan sends constituents updates ostensibly highlighting his activities in Hartford. Unfortunately, they are notable more for what they lack than what they contain. The activities he omits are evidence that his real goal in Hartford is to impose his reactionary personal views on our state.

Here’s a short list of McLachlan’s activities he chose not to share (more would be included if the word limit on these letters permitted):

⏩ SJR 11 (2017), McLachlan’s attempt to deny Connecticut voters the right to have their presidential vote count as much as those of voters in states the electoral college undemocratically advantages.

⏩ SB 330 (2017), forcing women seeking an abortion to have a medically unnecessary and costly ultrasound. He could have focused his attention productively on requiring insurance coverage for breast ultrasounds in addition to mammograms for women who require them for early detection of cancer, but the actual health of women does not seem to be his priority.

⏩ SB 576 (2017), whose intention is to establish fetal personhood as a step toward ending access to birth control. See https://www.propublica.org/article/the-personhood-movement-timeline.

McLachlan was also on an American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) “task force.” This notorious bill mill’s purpose is to impose a conservative, corporatist agenda on states from the outside in. Several of McLachlan’s bills bear the stamp of a bill mill — the exact opposite of crafting legislation in response to the needs of constituents.

McLachlan’s numerous misguided efforts represent enormous waste — the time and salaries of legislative lawyers who had to review his legislative atrocities — not to mention a perversion of the democratic process.

The 24th district has been mis-served by Michael McLachlan for long enough; November is an opportunity to finally bring his disastrous tenure to an end. Amy Ziffer Sherman