Letter to the Editor: Vigilantes

To the Editor:

Texas Republicans passed a law enabling people to sue (for $10,000) anyone if they suspected that person was helping or encouraging a person to get an abortion. Many have said that Iowa is to follow.

Do you want neighbors, acquaintances, friends and family snooping into your medical business? Once again, Republicans demonstrate that they are not for everyday people.

I spent eight months in Ukraine in 1993, shortly after the fall of the former Soviet Union. I wondered why my neighbors didn’t smile at me and didn’t engage when I tried to initiate conversation. Then someone explained it to me.

All men at age 18 were drafted into the military.  But their service didn’t end when they were released after four years. Every six months, these former soldiers were interrogated and asked about their neighbors, family and friends. Did anyone have extra money or new furnishings? Did anyone associate with Westerners or outsiders? Was anyone engaging in entrepreneurship or selling on the black market?

If the soldiers had new information, the soldier would get promotions and raises at work. Entire families disappeared and no one bothered to ask where they went or why.

Is that what we want in the United States? The Texan Republicans want neighbors, friends and family to become vigilantes, snooping about private medical concerns.

The Democratic Party values independence, privacy about medical concerns, and helps everyday people.  Don’t be fooled by what the Republican Party says, watch what they do. What’s next?

Ann Fields
Lansing