Michelle Eagleman on Value Them Both
Letter to the Editor
A letter written by Michelle Eagleman of Lawrence was sent on Friday, June 10 to Lawrence Journal-World’s editor Kim Callahan. However, Callahan refused to print the letter, telling her it was “factually incorrect.” Michelle sent links from The Sentinel, KSNT, Ballotpedia, and Personhood Alliance to back up the claims she made in her letter.
According to Lawrence Journal-World’s Submit a Letter to the Editor page, “The Journal-World welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be 250 words or less, be of public interest and should avoid name-calling and libelous language. The Journal-World reserves the right to edit letters, as long as viewpoints are not altered.”
Eagleman’s letter fit the criteria, but Lawrence Journal-World has yet to publish it. She, later, forwarded it to The Kansas Constitutional where we asked for consent to publish.
Eagleman’s letter:
“I’ve been seeing yard signs lately which say, “Stop the ban, Vote NO on the Constitutional Amendment”, referring to Value Them Both, which will be on the ballot August 2. There are two ways of reading this. One is that passing the VTB amendment will lead to a ban, which theoretically could happen. I say theoretically because, before 2019, KS had regulated abortion to the extent that we only had 3 clinics statewide. That is probably an accurate reflection of how people feel in our predominantly red, mostly conservative state. Most people aren’t morally opposed, but don’t particularly like it and want it regulated. And it was regulated—waiting periods, no late term, consent for minors, … But that all changed in 2019 when a very activist state Supreme Court found a clause in our 170-year-old state constitution that gave women an unlimited right to what amounts to abortion. There went all the regulation. That leads me to the second, and incorrect way to interpret these “Vote NO” signs, which seems to have traction in our community. At the pro-choice rally on Saturday in South Park, the speaker framed the amendment as an outright, automatic ban on abortion. That is not correct. She said abortion is already regulated enough. No, it is not regulated at all. The Value Them Both amendment is correcting an activist court ruling that prevents us from having ANY regulation on abortion. Value Them Both returns the choice on common sense regulation back to the people.”