Soapbox

I was greatly heartened by the high school students who organized and ran the reproductive rights rally in Durango on May 14. They did an admirable job. They understand what’s happening to democracy and rights in the U.S.

So did the goodly crowd that attended – men, women, straight, gay, trans, young, old. Very nice.

The GOP has worked since at least 2000 to create single party democracy in the U.S. They’ve succeeded in many states. Republican candidates (Lauren Boebert, for instance) campaign on protecting freedom. But the opposite is happening in those GOP-controlled states.

They are canceling women’s freedom to control their own reproductive functions and take them back to the good old 1950s. First abortion access. Next access to contraception?

Following Texas’ lead, some red states are creating a culture to rat on your neighbor or even a family member as part of canceling reproductive rights. The health and even lives of women with natural miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies are at risk. In red states with “life begins at conception” laws, those women could face criminal charges.

Indications are that some anti-abortion states will try to criminalize what a woman does in another state, where the activity is legal. Next step? How about Gestapo checkpoints at state lines, bus and train stations, and airports where females ages 10 to 55 are forced to take a pregnancy test? If it’s positive, the female is detained, along with any adult companions.

Now we have the leaked Supreme Court draft decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on grounds that it’s based on individual privacy, which the draft says is not an enumerated right in the Constitution. Never mind the 3rd and 4th amendments, which suggest privacy rights. Maybe the drafters of the Constitution took privacy rights so much for granted that it didn’t occur to them to specify that in the Constitution.

So if the draft becomes final, you have no right to privacy. How many other rights that we take for granted are threatened by that? Let your imagination run wild.

Red states already target LGBTQ+ people for legalized discrimination and criminalize loving parents who support and provide necessary gender-affirming health care for their trans children.

Next steps? Cancel the right to marry, same sex or interracial. Maybe go back to the good old days when LGBTQ+ people were rooted out for dismissal from the

ANationDivided: A tip jar at the Nature’s Oasis Deli forces customers to pick a side: Are you on Team

Amber or Team Johnny? Also, how freakin’ long is this trial going to go on?/ Courtesy photo

military and government jobs, and even when same sex or interracial relations were a crime?

Now, Mitch McConnell is suggesting that if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade and the GOP takes control of Congress this fall, they could pass a national ban on abortion – the opposite of what Democrats want to do. And the opposite of what polls indicate the majority of Americans want.

Let’s just say it. For the most part, all this is an effort by evangelicals and conservative Catholics, enabled by the GOP, to use government to impose their puritanical, patriarchal religious codes on everyone else.

Note that the Supreme Court is now controlled by conservative Catholics, thanks to the GOP. They also are Constitutional originalists. Only white male property owners were considered worthy to vote when the Constitution was written, and women had the status of chattel. They can never have true equality without being able to control their own reproductive functions.

We all will have to live with the results of this pending decision. Ignore your rights and they will go away. – Carole McWilliams, Bayfield

If it ain’t broke…

When did downtown Durango become broken? Main Avenue and the historic district are a beautiful, authentic showcase for generations past and future.

Does the City of Durango need to spend thousands of dollars on outside consultants to redesign our historic downtown for changes that will cost millions of dollars and years to implement? The city’s budget priority should be affordable housing, aging infrastructure, wages and cost-of-living issues.

The idea that residents have weighed in and a majority support a redesign is nonsense. The surveys and meetings are colorful and well-intentioned, but they can’t possibly describe the financial, logistical and historical impacts on the city. The associated public meetings aren’t for commentary. The entire exercise appears to be a formality for pushing through expensive improvements that city staff and consultants want. The presentations seem to give weight to maintaining our historic district as is.

All the buildings on downtown Main Avenue (with the exception of the old Post Office) are privately owned. The opinions and preferences of those landowners should be given high consideration since proposed changes could drastically and negatively impact their businesses. Only a handful of enterprises will benefit by transforming downtown into a de facto pedestrian mall at the expense of all taxpayers and existing downtown businesses.

Spend public treasure wisely, not wishfully. – Laurel Waller, Durango

Wrapping things up

As we hit the 120th day of the 2022 legislative session, I reflect on our accomplishments. After several nights working past midnight, then coming back to work early the next morning, survival right now feels like a major success. Some of our proudest bipartisan accomplishments include: ● Passing the School Finance Bill. It is a requirement every year, but this one felt great. It decreased the Budget Stabilization Factor by $182 million, which is now at its lowest amount since it started in 2009. Funding was raised on average $545 per student to a $9,559 per pupil total, and we paid our debt to special education. We know we have more to do, but we’re happy to keep this priority. ● Addressing the fentanyl crisis. Democrats and Republicans passed a bill with much tighter restrictions on drug possession. If a person is caught with more than 1 gram, they are now subject to a felony drug charge but can turn that felony into a misdemeanor if they can prove they did not know any fentanyl existed. We appropriated money for test strips and lifesaving treatments, expanded addiction treatments in jails, and added harsher punishment for dealers. The Senate and House agreed in a Conference Committee to pursue this strong but compassionate language and avoided unduly burdening the work of prosecutors and law enforcement. ● Supporting our county employees. Senate Bill 22230, gives more than 36,000 workers the collective bargaining rights that private sector and state employees in Colorado already have. Employees now have a seat at the table with commissioners and need to agree on their contract, giving them opportunities they did not have before. I ran one amendment exempting counties with populations of fewer than 5,000 people and voted to raise that number to 7,500. ● Lowering property taxes. With strong support, Senate Bill 22-238 passed, which will lower Colorado property taxes by $700 million over the next two years, saving the average homeowner $274 per year. The bill was crafted in response to several ballot measures, which took much larger chunks out of the tax but would have repercussions for the educators and local government employees who depend on it. Instead, this bill uses money from the general fund and TABOR surplus to save property owners money. Everyone who anticipated running ballot measures had to sign notarized documents saying they were standing down. ● Paying off a debt. Senate Bill 22-234 uses $600 million in federal pandemic relief funds to repay some of the money borrowed to support the unemployment insurance trust fund during the pandemic. This investment supports workers who lost their jobs through no fault of their own, saves lives and prevents an increase in fees to save businesses money.

This is my last in-session column of the year. I thank our local newspapers for providing the platform to connect with constituents and appreciate the positive feedback I have received. Please keep in touch, as I look forward to our continued conversations and successes. – Barbara McLachlan, D-Durango