Imagine you are a woman who needs a pregnancy test. Then imagine you see a sign, “Pregnancy Service Center,” offering free pregnancy tests. You go in and what you get is propaganda, obfuscation and a lack of privacy, as your personal information can be disclosed to anyone.
Limited-service pregnancy centers pretend to be real health care providers, complete with lab coats — but many are not. These fake clinics often trick women, implying that they offer a full range of health services when they do not.
Women making decisions about pregnancy need timely access to medically accurate information. Sending women to one of these “providers” who delay pregnancy tests as a tactic put women’s health at risk.
Women should receive comprehensive, unbiased, medically accurate information. Hawaii Women’s Coalition supports Senate Bill 501 because it helps ensure that Hawaii’s women can make reproductive health decisions with accurate information.
Ann S. Freed
Co-chair, Hawaii Women’s Coalition
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Invest in city’s Office of Climate Change
Mayor Kirk Caldwell and the City Council should put our future well-being over present-day penny-pinching when it comes to the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency.
Why begrudge staffing costs when the question to ask is: What can we achieve through a coordinated citywide effort on resilience and climate change adaptation? How about fewer sewage spills and more money for preventative maintenance?
Given that next year’s budget for sewer capital improvements is $678 million, haggling over $1 million is penny-wise and pound-foolish. The University of Hawaii Sea Grant College is investigating the impacts of climate change on sewer infrastructure and the outlook is grim. High tides and heavy rains already force their way into our sewers, causing spills that will be exacerbated by sea level rise.
We need champions for change inside Honolulu Hale. Malama aina isn’t a monthly volunteer workday; it’s at the core of our city’s kuleana.
Annie Koh
McCully-Moiliili
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Killing albatrosses a terrible crime
When this story first surfaced I was shocked that it happened (“Plea deal in slaughter of birds draws criticism,” Star-Advertiser, March 18).
It took a darker side because of the way the culprits slaughtered these seabirds, and then bragged about it without remorse.
Whether it was malice or just limitless ignorance that drove them, it was a terrible crime.
The plea deal in the environmental court is like justice going out the window. I do not see how the defendant’s actions against these defenseless animals was just a misdemeanor.
Keith Sinclair
Pauoa
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President’s behavior wrecking country
The whole world worries when America’s president tells our partners that they have to pay their own way — a turnabout in their relationship. A trade pact still wet is dismissed unilaterally. Immigration laws are tightened. The game has changed.
Worries grow when the president’s erratic behavior becomes more pronounced. Wild accusations grow as does self-centeredness. Where is the oversight?
Everyone’s scared and concerned: There’s a loose cannon wrecking the ship of state. What worked for the campaign hurts governing.
Richard Y. Will
Waikiki
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Democrats twist facts to attack Trump
Hawaii Democrats just can’t get over the Republican victory in the 2016 presidential election and will continue to beat on President Donald Trump every chance they get, even if they have to twist the facts and fight meaningless battles in their sorry efforts to discredit our president.
The latest ridiculous effort by Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin and Gov. David Ige to block Trump’s newly revised temporary travel ban is a complete farce. They are wasting our tax dollars fighting in court over this issue, and will have their “Trumped-up” charges dismissed when all is said and done, and hundreds of thousands of our tax dollars spent for naught.
Chin and Ige should be ashamed of themselves for wasting our time and resources on this no-win case, when we have so many more important issues to deal with right here at home.
One can only assume that Chin and Ige are enjoying their 15 minutes of shame.
Frank A. DeSilva
Haleiwa
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DOT responsible for airport mess
“This job is a mess” is an understatement and an outrage along with polite comments (“Cargo site stalls amid legal battle,” Star-Advertiser, March 21).
Who at the state Department of Transportation is responsible? Who? Only no comment and no transparency, under the umbrella of litigation.
How many times are we going to allow this? Five years to complete this project? Seriously? We don’t want a bailout from Hawaiian Airlines. We want accountability, first from the DOT and for the individuals responsible to be fired or prosecuted. Clean up our house first.
Greg Casler
Kailua
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Help homeless attend Career Expo
For the Career Expo next week, how about if the city offers our homeless people a place in the Blaisdell Center where they can take showers and get cleaned up? Then coordinate with Goodwill and the Salvation Army to provide clothing. Have computers and printers available to create resumes. And last, a voucher for free admission.
Wim Blees
Mililani
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New York rich set example for Hawaii
Wouldn’t it be great if the millionaires (and billionaires) who reside in our beautiful state felt as generous toward Hawaii as the New York millionaires who volunteered to be taxed at a higher rate to support New York infrastructure (“Increase our taxes, rich New Yorkers urge state,” Star-Advertiser, March 21)?
There are stories every day about what’s needed, especially for our schools.
Shirley Hamilton
Kailua
