Pay close attention to Trump’s abortion stand | Letters to the editor

The New York Times recently significantly downplayed the severity of Donald Trump’s positions on abortion.

The Times headline, “Why Trump Seems Less Vulnerable on Abortion Than Other Republicans” (The Upshot, Nov. 14, 2023) fails to capture the gravity of the situation. Trump’s seemingly vague statements are a smokescreen for a clear and present danger to reproductive freedom.

His appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court and his boastful acknowledgment of overturning Roe v. Wade reveal a deliberate assault on reproductive rights. His statements, such as advocating punishment for women who have abortions and his ambiguous stance on a six-week national abortion ban, underscore the urgency of the threat.

Furthermore, Trump’s support for a national abortion ban during his time in office, one that could have resulted in doctors facing imprisonment, emphasizes the severe consequences of his policies.

The stakes are clear and the impact is life-threatening. Every journalist in the country has a responsibility to report the reality of Trump’s extreme record on abortion, rather than crafting headlines that obscure the true nature of his stance. When it comes to our reproductive freedom, actions speak louder than vague words. We must take Trump at his word and recognize the profound threat that he poses this November.

Bob Doherty, Wilton Manors

Move the train tracks?

There has been a lot of discussion recently regarding whether to build a bridge or a tunnel across the New River in downtown Fort Lauderdale. As a boat owner, I understand the frustrations caused by the bascule bridge, which has been closing more often since the advent of the Brightline train service.

So far, no one has mentioned relocating the Brightline train tracks from the heart of downtown to further west of I-95, where we already have tracks for the Tri-Rail. This would be a permanent solution and would be immensely cheaper than $3 billion for a tunnel or $300 million for a bridge, both of which will need constant maintenance and eventual replacement. In addition, the freight trains are too heavy for both the proposed bridge or tunnel, so we would still have an FEC bascule bridge downtown. A large bridge through the heart of our beautiful city would be terrible.

I would like to see the city and county explore the proposal for moving the tracks west of I-95. We could have a massive communication and entertainment center built next to I-95 at the Tri-Rail station on Broward Boulevard. From there, we could have shuttles run downtown as well as westward to facilitate people getting around. Let’s not be blinded by limiting ourselves to two equally bad options.

Michael A. Abrahams, M.D., Fort Lauderdale

All hands on deck

Benjamin Franklin, in his closing statement approving of our original Constitution, said that [the Constitution] “is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government.”

It’s hard to turn around an ocean liner, and it will take time to end the people’s corruption, but end it we must, or we will be responsible for ending one of the world’s longest lasting constitutional democracies, one where you and I determine whom to put in control of government, one where, because of our Constitution, the world has for nearly 250 years looked up to us as a shining light on a hill, even as we continually strived for that “more perfect union.”

At this critical point in our history, we owe the world and all children visionary voting, reasoned thought, and powerful rejection of Donald Trump’s offer of a dictatorship. We must end our own corruption. Remember Franklin’s comment: We have given you a republic, if you can keep it.

All hands on deck, people. Reject tyranny and Trumpism.

Rick Soskis, Havana, Fla.