Letters to the Editor | April 15, 2026

Why did the vice president come home without demanding further peace negotiations with Iran? This war has affected not only our economy, costing us more than $1 billion per day, but global economies are suffering, as well. If it continues for much longer, it will cause a worldwide recession that will take years to overcome. We need more patience at the negotiating table, more talks, and more than 21 hours to resolve this conflict.

The president’s new threat to blockade the Strait of Hormuz will put our military and our fleet in very dangerous positions.

I strongly urge our elected officials to reassert their constitutional powers and consider a war powers resolution. Congress needs more control over any further military operations. Enough war. Blessed are the peacemakers. Let’s give peace a chance.

Catherine Poynton, Havertown

My father was born on a Pennsylvania farm in 1911. He had six siblings, but three died young from conditions that are now preventable or treatable: a 14-month-old sister from “milk poisoning” (likely salmonella), a 25-year-old brother from Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and a 31-year-old brother from appendicitis and sepsis. My father lived to be 90. He understood that while medical science isn’t perfect, the alternative — living without it — was far worse. He prioritized preventive care, including vaccinations for his family, and vetted his doctors’ credentials. In the 1950s, I stood in line at a school gym with my family for the Salk and Sabin polio vaccines. No one hesitated to sign up. We all knew people who had died or been severely disabled by polio. We didn’t question the advice of our family doctors.

As a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician, I later treated patients disabled from the late effects of polio during my training and practice in Philadelphia and later in California. During the peak of the epidemic in 1952, many survivors faced paralysis, and some required mechanical ventilation, or “iron lungs.” As these patients aged, their muscles weakened further, sometimes necessitating motorized wheelchairs or other mobility aids. In the early 21st century, I treated a young man in his 20s who was losing leg function due to polio. I asked how he had contracted a disease eliminated in the U.S. by the 1990s. He replied, “Unfortunately, my mother did not believe in vaccinations.”

On March 16, following a lawsuit by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Federal District Judge Brian E. Murphy ruled that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. likely violated the Federal Advisory Act. Kennedy fired members of the Advisory Committee of Immunization Practices (ACIP) and replaced them with people who had anti-vaccination views. All prior committee votes and decisions are now stayed. The ACIP is temporarily disbanded, and the vaccination schedule released in January has also been stayed. HHS will likely appeal. And Kennedy has already started changing the rules for committee membership as a way to circumvent the order.

Bacteria and viruses have their own survival strategies. Drugs have side effects and can be ineffective. Vaccines remain everyone’s best defense, especially the vulnerable among us — newborns and the immunocompromised. Choosing not to vaccinate invites the return of devastating diseases we once thought were consigned to history. Medical organizations like the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics are here to help, and through individual and collective efforts, we can work to regain the public’s trust.

Mary Elizabeth Sandel, Sonoma, Calif.

In 2008, I had the privilege of visiting Cuba, Venezuela, and Mexico to study their efforts to end illiteracy. I traveled with a leader of adult literacy students in the U.S., and as an educator, I recorded how those countries made literacy a priority. Cuba, under the leadership of Fidel Castro, had assisted over 50 nations, providing volunteers to teach reading and support healthcare for all their people.

At the time, the U.S. was cutting funds for literacy programs and college education. Recently, I have thought a lot about how much more democratic and just it is to teach people to read than to keep them in the dark. I also believe the U.S. and Donald Trump have no right to violate the rights of Cubans or Venezuelans to self-determination.

I call on all of you who believe in the human right to education and basic healthcare to speak out against our government’s intervention in other countries.

David Greene, Philadelphia

Your editorial supporting the abandonment of the parking garage construction project, where a partial collapse resulted in worker injuries and fatalities, is misguided. One of Philadelphia’s positive distinguishing factors is the availability of extraordinary medical care — an anchor of this is Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

It and the other institutions that provide exceptional care for the entire continuum of life are the beacons of hope they are because of their dedicated staff. These staff, many with top-tier qualifications, have choices about where they work. Most chose to work in these challenging, high-pressure settings so they can provide the highest-quality care, some of it not available anywhere else.

It would be wonderful if all of them had access to reliable, round-the-clock mass transit, but they don’t. Asking these folks to meet the extraordinary demands placed on them while insisting they give up their cars, the most reliable and continuously available means of getting to work, is inviting them to choose to work elsewhere. Until we decide to focus on safe, reliable mass transit for all, cars and places to park them are a necessary part of our healthcare system.

Earl Marsh, Philadelphia

Before the United States can negotiate with Iran in good faith, we need to demonstrate that, as a nation, we keep our word with other countries that give up their nuclear capabilities in the name of peace and our unqualified protection. The United States needs to honor the Budapest Memorandum it enacted together with Ukraine, and resume full and unwavering financial and military support for the Ukrainian people, and hasten the end of Russia’s war against our ally. Perhaps only then would Iran find in the United States a credible negotiating partner.

Anne Minicozzi, Villanova

Dictator Vice President JD Vance recently visited Hungary to support the reelection of Viktor Orbán, an autocratic-style leader who has systematically dismantled the country’s legal system and has taken control of the media in order to spread propaganda in his favor. He considers Russia, China, and Turkey to be his allies and has used various illegal means to win elections in the past.

In 2011, Orbán changed the retirement age for judges from 70 to 62. This meant that he was able to appoint about 300 new judges who pledged their support to him. What he did violated Hungary’s constitution, and two years later, the European Court of Justice ruled Orbán had violated the European Union law. Unfortunately, the damage was already done because the vacated judges were not given back their positions.

Regarding the press, Orbán’s propaganda machine informed the public that reporters who wrote about fraud by Orbán were “foreign agents.” In fact, unfriendly reporters were often surveilled with the spyware known as Pegasus, a cyberweapon used by Orban’s henchmen. Orbán’s supporters, who benefit from his leadership, own over 70% of the TV and radio stations. Similar to Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Orbán controls the news broadcast to the Hungarian people. Needless to say, Orbán has defended Putin’s attack on Ukraine.

What does it tell the world when our vice president visits Hungary to campaign for Orbán? It tells them that our leader, Donald Trump, values dictatorial power more than democracy. We know our democratic system is not perfect, and maybe that is why many MAGA people voted for Trump. I wonder, would they prefer to live in Russia, North Korea, or China?

Joe Czarnecki, Dallas

What is the best way to handle a narcissistic egomaniac? Ignore him. Cut off his supply of attention. A total blackout. Radio silence. No response to any rhetoric — no matter how offensive. Forty-eight hours should do the trick.

Tiffany Long, Philadelphia

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