Head Start deserves congressional support
I recently joined Congressman Fleischmann in Washington, D.C., to discuss the impact of the opioid epidemic on children and families. While in Washington, I spoke at a Congressional Baby Caucus briefing, which Fleischmann co-chairs, on the important role that Head Start plays in helping our communities heal from substance misuse and addiction.
As CEO of the Family Resource Agency, I am blessed to work with dedicated members of our communities to deliver the high-quality, life-changing services of Head Start and Early Head Start to more than 1,800 children and families in Tennessee and Georgia. So when the President’s Commission on Combating Addiction and the Opioid Crisis reported that America needs to invest in “comprehensive family-centered approaches” with “access to drug screening, substance use treatment, and parental support,” the answer to me was clear.
With more infants suffering from neonatal abstinence syndrome than ever before, and foster care, special education and criminal justice systems being overwhelmed, communities deserve a holistic solution like Head Start. Congress must allocate more funds to meet that need.
James E. Anderson
Cleveland, Tenn.
Give blood products whenever possible
On June 15, I attempted to donate platelets at the Blood Assurance Hixson satellite location. Because my blood iron readings were too low, I was unable to do so.
I will, through iron supplements, strive to raise my iron level to an acceptable level. A failure to do so will make me very sad. To the reader, I urge you to donate blood products as often as is possible for you.
Since 1972 when Blood Assurance was founded, I have donated 63 gallons of blood to this community. So my inability to render a platelet donation that day was particularly hurtful.
Please forgive me for bragging or tooting my own horn. I have done so little else in my life that is noteworthy.
Harry Geller
Abortion remains unresolved issue
The Friday Times editorial (“With High Court Vacancy, Mid-Terms Are Crucial”), posted just two days after Justice Kennedy’s retirement announcement, is a powerful reminder of how abortion rights remain this nation’s most divisive issue. Despite the fact that abortion-on-demand rarely makes the list of Americans’ top 10 concerns, it remains that great unresolved issue in the life of this nation.
Your commentary only underscores this reality, even as you suggest that dark days are ahead for freedom-loving Americans who face the prospect that conservative Republicans will make reproductive freedom “no longer a woman’s choice, but rather a vanished freedom, under national rule.” While your argument has been standard boilerplate for nearly 50 years, you distort historical fact with your assertion that such tyranny would be the work of a dictatorial Republican administration; the truth is that in 1973 Roe v. Wade dictated an end to existing laws in all 50 states which either restricted or banned abortion procedures. In other words, Roe became “national rule.” If ever it were overturned, the greatest likelihood is that the decision to either ban or allow abortion would be returned to the states. Alarmist cries do little to shed light on divisive issues.
Gary Lindley
Lookout Mountain, Ga.