In the shadow of Red Hill, and disastrous rulings from a right wing-dominated Supreme Court, voters must understand their options. They need to ask how incumbents have served the public good — or not. They need to ask if those who have stepped up to challenge them might do a better job of addressing the challenges facing Hawaii. President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better bill would have brought much that Hawaii needed, but was foiled by Blue Dogs and Republicans.

Nationally, Biden deserves more full-throated Democratic support. Locally, Hawaii needs relief from corruption and the struggle of working families to survive. The media can do much to educate through debates and balanced coverage. Ballots start arriving in mailboxes July 26. Incumbents have name recognition. But voters need to know that there are newcomers who merit consideration. Candidates must be challenged to explain themselves. Our democracy is in real peril.

Dawn Webster

Hawaii Kai

Many crucial rights not written in Constitution

The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson said, “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion … ”

The Constitution also made no reference to slavery, or the right of women to vote, or lynching, or to child labor — omissions that our civilized society fixed in later years.

“ … and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely — the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”

The right of marriage between a Black and a white person was a crime, the right to be a homosexual was a crime, and the right to be a conscientious objector was a crime, but no more.

George Vozikis

Waikiki

Women will again face terror of illegal abortions

Did the Supreme Court justices who voted to end Roe v. Wade not see that their action will most likely send thousands of women back to the kitchen tabletops and coat-hanger-wires solution to terminate their unwanted pregnancies? In the 1950s and 1960s, when abortion was illegal, I, and many of my peers, well remember how terrifying getting an illegal abortion was, but it was our only option.

We knew we could possibly bleed to death or get an infection, which meant being unable to bear children when we were ready to do so.

There was little comfort for the pain we had to bear from not having a safe abortion with healthy medical care. I once felt so happy when abortion was legalized and young and poor women no longer had to go through what we did.

Today, I am terrified for the young women and those who will come after them. I am so very angry that once again women are subject to control by others and are being held accountable and made to pay the price when the men responsible for causing these unwanted pregnancies are not.

Dina Brown

Wahiawa

Supreme Court favors guns but not women

The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down New York’s concealed-carry handgun law and then proceeds to reverse Roe v. Wade.

We have a rabid group of justices making decisions to allow the rights of gun-toting people to carry on, and disallowing women to make their own decisions. What next? They are a threat to our freedom.

Is everyone carrying a gun, or is abortion, a bigger threat to the safety and protection of our U.S. citizens?

The court has outlived its age of reason. We are a sick nation.

I am disgusted.

Mary J. Culvyhouse

Kaneohe

Coal plant still useful; other options not ready

You get what you vote for, so on Sept. 1, the AES coal plant in West Oahu, which supplies about 15% of the island’s electricity, will officially shut down because of the passage of Act 23, which banned further use of coal past 2022.

Alternate energy-sourced replacement options are not yet ready to pick up the slack due to COVID-19, supply chain issues and more. (It sounds a lot like rail, but I digress). Hawaiian Electric’s option is to use higher-priced oil to make up the difference, which likely will increase Oahu’s electric bills.

Here’s an idea: Allow the AES refinery to operate for another year to allow alternate energy sources to mature, and take the burden off Hawaii residents. But the Legislature and governor won’t because we must stop dirty coal at all cost, regardless of the impact to Hawaii residents.

Remember in November what your elected officials decided to do on this issue.

Harvey Schwartz

Ewa Beach

More doctors needed for medical aid in dying

Thank you very much for Christie Wilson’s beautiful article about 78-year-old lung cancer patient Ramona Chiya, who was able to use the Our Care, Our Choice Act to die peacefully in her sleep, at home, with loved ones by her side (“Waikiki woman, 78, chooses death on her terms,” Star- Advertiser, June 19). We need more doctors who are willing to support terminally ill patients if medical aid in dying is their choice, especially on the neighbor islands. I hope our cumbersome law can be amended to allow APRNs to prescribe, and to shorten the 20-day waiting period required between verbal requests.

In the meantime, I urge everyone to talk to their doctor now if you think you may want this option someday — you don’t want to be searching for a new care team while battling a terminal disease.

Mary Ann Kadooka

Nuuanu

EXPRESS YOURSELF

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser welcomes all opinions. Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor.

>> Write us: We welcome letters up to 150 words, and guest columns of 500-600 words. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. Include your name, address and daytime phone number.

>> Mail: Letters to the Editor, Honolulu Star-Advertiser 7 Waterfront Plaza, 500 Ala Moana, Suite 210 Honolulu, HI 96813

>> Contact: 529-4831 (phone), 529-4750 (fax), letters@staradvertiser.com, staradvertiser.com/editorial/submit-letter