Removing Clemente book from school absurd

I grew up in Brooklyn, New York, rooting for the Brooklyn Dodgers. They used to do spring training in Vero Beach.

New York ruled baseball back in the 1950s and early 1960s (Yankees, Giants, Dodgers). Everyone knew Roberto Clemente of the Pittsburgh Pirates was one of the very best baseball players of all time.

So now, a book about the late great Clemente has been removed from libraries in some Florida public schools.

Clearly, this is absurd.

All Floridians should call out this idiocy.

Wake up, Florida!

Richard Sheehan, Vero Beach
 

Governing by special session wasteful, unnecessary, harmful.

Gov. Ron DeSantis calls multiple special sessions, costing Florida taxpayers about $100,000 a day, and many ask why. It would make sense to get the work done during a regular legislative session, and be far less expensive.

However, it’s a way to quickly pass legislation that may be unpopular or self-serving, leaving little time to consider or hear opposing viewpoints. Voters have given DeSantis a Republican supermajority that will do — so far — anything he says.

Special rules apply to special sessions. Time frames for notices of bills are reduced to hours, the number of committee hearings for bills is reduced to one, etc.

Passing bills faster with fewer hearings in committee makes it easier to turn a bad bill into a bad law.

This governor may have won his 2022 election decisively. However, according to some recent polls, fewer than 30% of Floridians actually approve of his draconian reforms to education, voting rights and reproductive rights. Few voters want to see intimidation tactics at the polls, and even fewer support banning books from public and school libraries.

Other examples: Parents do not want their students denied access to Advanced Placement credits. No one wants research grants declined, or to lose access to federal financial aid because of DeSantis' cultural wars on academia. After decades of improving the reputations and performance of Florida's institutions of higher learning, this governor's “War on Woke” is likely to cost them their accreditation.

These losses are too high a price to pay for a few headlines and "gotcha' moments in DeSantis’ quest to live in the White House.

Felicia Bruce, Fort Pierce

 

Rick Scott's decision-making questionable

Watch out whenever and for whatever reason, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott proposes an action.

As a resident of Florida since 1990, I have seen the damage Scott did when governor.

Two examples: He declined a significant sum of money from the federal government to support construction of a high-speed train service in the right-of-way of the Florida toll road in the center of the state, where it belonged. The result is all of the coastal cities are now trying to cope with the imposition of such a high-speed system on top of existing rail systems along the coast.

Another example of Scott interference: He, as Florida governor, declined significant federal support for Medicaid. Most states accepted. The result is people who need Medicaid have difficulty paying for it.

So, again, if Scott recommends anything, hang onto your wallets.

Earle Kirkbride, Vero Beach

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At her 13-week prenatal appointment, Lauren Miller's doctors referred to one of her twin fetuses as "Baby B" and explained it was farther away from her cervix, measured much smaller than the other twin and two fluid-filled masses – called cystic hygromas – were in its head.

Blood tests showed "It's so much worse than I imagined," she wrote in her journal. "It's trisomy 18. It's Edwards Syndrome." Online, she read that about 90% of fetuses with trisomy 18 die before birth, and those that do survive usually only live for a few days.

A genetic counselor called her. "It just gets worse," she wrote after that conversation. "Basically, every day that Baby B continues to develop, he puts myself and his twin at greater risk for complications, preterm birth, etc. But she can't say much – she was careful about what she even said."

All that the genetic counselor told her was that when she practiced in New York, doctors would do a "single fetal reduction," though she didn't explain what that procedure was, only that "you can't do that in Texas now."

Miller knew why the genetic counselor was being so cryptic. Selective reduction is an abortion procedure for pregnancies with multiple fetuses. Doctors can selectively terminate one fetus, while another or multiple other fetuses continue to develop. Multiple pregnancies are inherently risky, and selective reduction can increase the chance of a live birth or births.

But now, almost all abortions are illegal in Texas.

In fact, there are three laws banning abortion in the state. One predated Roe v. Wade, dating back as far as 1857. Another was triggered when Roe was overturned and comes with a maximum penalty of life in prison for performing an abortion in the state. Then there's SB-8, that allows people to bring civil charges for "aiding or abetting" a Texas abortion.