Letters to the Editor | Oct. 27, 2022

A letter writer complained that The Inquirer has biased coverage of abortion, citing that The Inquirer doesn’t publish pictures of aborted fetuses. Pictures of fetuses in the womb have been available since Life magazine published them in full color in 1965, and the pro-life movement has marched with signs of aborted fetuses over the years as well. I have also seen them on billboards at one point.

What hasn’t been available and is never shown are pictures of massacred children, their mangled bodies with heads decapitated by an assault weapon, like what happened in Uvalde. Obviously a parent would have to give permission, but I wish at least one brave parent would do what Emmett Till’s mother did. she insisted that the world see what they did to her boy by having his face, unrecognizable as human, photographed in his casket.

No more double standards. If you want The Inquirer to show aborted fetuses, then let’s see the mangled bodies of gun victims as well, detailed and in color. Could grisly images change hearts and minds and lead to a ban on assault weapons? It’s worth a try.

Denise Fanelli, Voorhees, denise.fanelli@yahoo.com

I am appalled by the citizens for sanity ads on TV. Thanks to Will Bunch (“Who is behind those vile, right wing ads,” Oct. 16) for exposing the money and purpose behind them. It’s the Trump gang, spreading lies and tooting dog whistles attacking all immigrants, poor people, and urban youth for all the problems in the country. Don’t fall for it, voters! We who actually live in Philadelphia know our problems, including too many guns, too much poverty, and not enough affordable housing. However, we have proposed solutions, such as reducing assault weapons and handguns, or fair funding for schools, only to have the Pa. Republican legislators refuse to lift a finger to help while blaming the city for the problems. Notice that the Citizens ad’s only solution is sowing fear and hatred. Philadelphia citizens can and will solve its problems with some sane cooperation from Harrisburg.

Tom Volkert, Philadelphia, trvolkert@gmail.com

The “emergency stay” granted by Justice Clarence Thomas to Sen. Lindsey Graham permitting him to avoid appearing before the Fulton County grand jury in Georgia is an absolute abomination.

There is no way that this tainted justice should be ruling on any criminal investigations of disgraced former President Donald Trump regarding his criminal attempts to overturn the certified results of Georgia’s vote for and award of the state’s 16 Electoral College votes to Joe Biden.

Thomas’ lawyer-wife’s overt activities to void the 2020 presidential election create a conflict of interest, necessitating Thomas to recuse himself from all such matters submitted to the Supreme Court. His blind failure to do so does irreparable damage to the court’s reputation and acceptance to uphold the letter and spirit of the Constitution, as well as our nation’s sacred belief in the rule of law.

Bruce C. Cooper, Ardmore

I just learned that DNA kits have been given to parents in Texas to identify their children’s remains, such as in cases where they are literally torn apart by an assault rifle. What? What kind of society do we live in that this step was taken by officials, instead of urging lawmakers to pass commonsense gun laws? Our nation is gripped by a collective insanity among Republican legislators at the state and national levels. How can approval for DNA kits be passed, but a law keeping assault rifles out of the hands of teens can’t? Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger said that the Second Amendment “has been the subject of one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word ‘fraud,’ on the American public by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime.” Vote for candidates who will make effective gun laws.

Susan Baraldi, Philadelphia

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