Letter to The Editor: About Republican actions: ‘Is this really America today?’

Did you watch and get a good laugh from movies like “Tootsie,” “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “The Birdcage” or reruns of “Bosom Buddies”? Well, don’t expect to give that enjoyment to your children or grandchildren if you live in a red state. That would be considered drag portrayals.

Did you watch “Roots” or “Lonesome Dove,” read “The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank, “Beloved,” “The 1619 Project,” “To Kill a Mockingbird” or “Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates”? Have your children been reading James Patterson’s series “Maximum Ride”? If Republicans have their way, these will all be banned, as they already are in some states, because they supposedly show racial discrimination or LGBT thoughts.

Will the Bible be the next book banned? Consider Genesis 19:30-32, where Lot has sex with his daughters; Genesis 19, where the men of Sodom seemingly request sex with other men; or Ezekiel 23:18-21, where a woman is condemned for her “nakedness” and “whoring.” Are they next going to tell you that you can’t watch “NCIS: Hawai’i” because of the lesbians on the show? Libraries are being decimated, and one Republican member of Congress has suggested that public libraries should be replaced with “church-owned” libraries. Please note this is a direct violation of the separation of church and state.

If you are a woman of childbearing age, you should be very afraid. If the Republicans have their way, abortion and abortion pills will be banned. In many states, women are being made to carry pregnancies that will result in babies who will die within hours of birth. Doctors have no clear guidance and, because of the possibility of being jailed, are postponing surgery for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies until the women are at death’s door. Legislatures in some states have even put forth bills proposing the death penalty against women for abortion and charges against doctors for performing lifesaving surgeries. The cause of women’s health and rights is being set back 100 years.

As more states ban transgender care, they put many people at risk. I had a cousin born with both male and female sex organs. Fortunately, that child was born before this nonsense and was able to have the surgery necessary to set them on a medically sound path to a future. Our laws are being made by people with no medical expertise. They even want to discriminate against such children who use government-sponsored lunch programs. Twenty-two Republican state attorneys general have filed a lawsuit effectively suing for the right to discriminate. Is this really America today?

Our Republican-led House of Representatives is wasting valuable time and not addressing the needs of the people. They are not addressing the gun problem, inflation, climate change or the dangers faced from Russia, China and North Korea, nor are they addressing the impending possible default of our government. They have had six years to come up with a budget plan but would rather pursue irrelevant investigations and cover up for the past president. They have no legal authority to interfere in investigations by states’ attorneys.

Let me ask you a question. If you had a parent about 76 years old who dwelt in the past, called everyone names, did nothing but rant and rave on the internet at 1 a.m., 2 a.m., 4 a.m., and promised retribution to anyone who disagreed with them, what would you do? Personally, I would take them to a psychiatrist.

Doris W. Draper

Houston