Letters for Oct. 5, 2022

Idaho officials with Idaho values

Hard work. Integrity. Hospitality. Leaving things better than they were found.

These are the Idaho values I was raised on. It’s time Idaho’s representatives embodied Idaho values!

The past few years, I’ve been embarrassed by the smugness, negligence and extremism of some Idaho officials. A few have gotten too big for their britches. Russ Fulcher has spent over $300,000 on his campaign while refusing to debate his opponent. Mike Simpson’s campaign surpasses $1 million. Mike Crapo? Over $6 million!

On the other hand, Kaylee Peterson is traveling to meet hard-working Idahoans. She’s asking about our issues. Her campaign barely exceeds $20,000. The Idaho I know values character over money. Kaylee is working to earn your respect and support. She’s a sixth-generation Idahoan who’s knowledgeable, passionate and committed to working across the aisle for Idahoans.

Officials must be held accountable for shirking responsibilities. Elections shouldn’t be bought. Let’s look past Republican, Democrat or Independent.

Let’s elect Idaho candidates with Idaho values. Join me in voting Kaylee Peterson, a woman of Idaho values for Congress.

Lacey Watkins

Moscow, Idaho

Does Cathy McMorris Rodgers represent you?

Dear women of Eastern Washington, District 5,

Your representative, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, doesn’t want you to have rights and freedom to make your own personal decisions.

On July 21, she voted “NO” on the Right to Contraception Act.

On July 15, she voted “NO” on the Ensuring Access To Abortion Act and “NO” on the Women’s Health Protection Act.

On June 24, she voted “NO on the Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act.

And on Sept. 21, she voted against democracy by voting “NO” on the Electoral Count Act.

Does Cathy McMorris Rodgers represent you?

Vote like your freedom and your rights depend on it.

Sami Perry

Spokane

History of abortion

Since so many crafting laws in Boise seem to have forgotten, I just wanted to remind folks that access to birth control and abortion were legal at the time of our nation’s founding. Our Founding Fathers even published DIY instructions for at-home abortions.

In 1748, Benjamin Franklin published “The American Instructor.” It included information on birth control and abortion. The instructions first appeared in John Tennent’s, “The Poor Planter’s Physician” in 1734, and was appended to Franklin’s publication with permission of the author. These were by no means the only publications that included abortion information. There is a wealth of information from numerous sources dating across several centuries.

Because so few Christians bother to read the Bible, many don’t realize that access to abortion and birth control were permissible at the time. Many are shocked to learn that one of the priest’s jobs was to perform abortions. Even less known and talked about, is the fact that women could be forced to have abortions against their will if their husbands or parents demanded it. (See Numbers, 5:11-31.)

I’d like to encourage everyone to learn a little about the history of abortion. Surely, Idaho women deserve the same reproductive rights that were enjoyed by Betsy Ross and Martha Washington.

Khaliela Wright

Potlatch, Idaho

A grand home in Corbin Park

What a positive lift it has been to read the story of Dr. McGarvey and his house in Corbin Park (“Sale of Corbin Park House will benefit underrepresented students,” Sept. 18), and then the follow up letter by Mac and Teri McCandless about the Corbin Park Historical District (“Kudos to The Spokesman,” Sept. 26). The house that they have lived in for many years is the home that my husband’s mother grew up in. This is a true-life rendition of Virginia Burton’s book “The Little House” that many of us grew up enjoying.

The passing of his grandmother and the sale of the house coincided with us moving to Pullman in 1964. Already with two boys, buying a house was on our wish list, and this three-story one in Spokane was priced to sell between $8,000 and $9,000. I wanted to get it moved to Pullman! I was hooted off the map and we faced the alternative of buying one there for $22,900.

This grand Spokane home got sold to people that made it into three apartments! But miraculously, Mac and Teri appeared on the scene and bought it with the purpose of returning it to its vintage form. They even consulted my mother-in-law on details before she died. So “The Little House” has remained a precious member of Corbin Park, with beauty and style.

Roz Luther

Spokane