Letters to the Editor

President has overreached his powers

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

Our forefathers sought freedom from religious persecution and intolerance when they fled to Colonial America. John Adams, our second president, stated, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

The principle of the separation of church and state seems at conflict when one entity in the equation — the state — intrudes without justification on the moral doctrine of any church by the issuance of a political mandate complete with a timeline for completion.

President Barack Obama recently called New York’s Cardinal designate Timothy Dolan, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, to inform him that the Catholic Church has 13 months to comply with a federal mandate whereby all health insurance policies under the auspice of Catholic hospitals, schools and social service agencies must include free artificial birth control coverage — including access to the morning after pill. This decree was made despite the fact it is diametrically opposed to the moral beliefs of the Catholic Church.

Whether one agrees or not with the coverage, taxpayers will be paying for the overreach of the state into the Catholic Church. If the state can mandate compliance to it, other smaller denominations can be intimated on any other doctrinal issue. Imagine our government mandating that Muslim women remove their hijabs in public.

When the president tells Dolan what the Catholic Church must do to conform to government mandated health care laws, I say, God help us. Dolan stated it well: “In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences.”

When the executive branch overreaches its power and authority, legislative and judicial branches should intercede. Then, of course, there is the ballot box.

Ellen L. Woodruff.

Midlothian.

Pre-abortion ultrasounds not medically indicated

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

The proposed Virginia legislation to mandate a pre-abortion ultrasound is just plain wrong and an obvious Republican attempt to further limit abortion availability.

The ultrasound, in most cases, is a procedure without a medical indication. As such, it forces the woman to be subjected to an invasive procedure without medical benefit. Furthermore, it increases the cost of an abortion, which may further limit the woman’s ability to afford the termination.

I would suggest that if the legislature and the governor pass and sign into law the proposed bill, those who voted for and signed it be required to pay the bills out of their own pockets for these unindicated procedures. Surely, neither the patient nor the taxpayers, providers or the insurance companies should be required to shoulder the added costs of tests without merit.

Although as an obstetrician I have chosen not to perform abortions, I support my colleagues who choose to do so. As it stands, abortions are legal in this country. Rather than attempting to limit access to a procedure that is legal, those who oppose the procedure should channel their efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Bruce E. Johnson, MD.

Manakin-Sabot.

Prosecutor’s death saddens community

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

I was deeply saddened to ready about Matthew Geary’s death, and I extend heartfelt condolences to his family.

Geary and his family were victims of character assassination. A recent news stated his “campaign ran into trouble after a highly orchestrated attack on his character by Republican leaders, including U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor.”

Where there was a paucity of ideas, nothing constructive to offer and no new approaches, the Republican Party of Henrico reverted to the politics of personal attack. Many who supported this personal attack espouse family values as their mantra. Are slander and innuendo family values? Where are the real values of forgiveness and judging one’s ability on performance and factual information?

Our entire community has been diminished by Geary’s untimely death.

Ann Russ Goodman.

Henrico.

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Correction

In an editing error, Friday’s letter from Mark Flynn, “Risks should be willingly accepted,” attributed comments from a previous letter about the Sunday hunting ban to Lee Ellison. Those comments were made in a letter from Tom Goode. We regret the error.