For birth control, nothing cheaper than free

In response to your Saturday editorial on Planned Parenthood:

Donald Trump seems to have finally realized that half the voters in the country are women. After a lifetime of degrading and insulting women, comparing them to pigs, dogs and saying those who have abortions should be punished, the former reality TV star said earlier this month that he thinks birth control should be available over the counter.

At first glance, this sounds like a great idea. But as always, the devil is in the details. Currently, the Affordable Care Act and the Obama administration ensure that almost all U.S. women can get no-cost, guaranteed birth control covered by their insurance plans. Nothing is cheaper than free.

Donald Trump has said repeatedly that he would repeal the act if elected. This would force women to pay the full price of their birth control on top of their health insurance premiums — up to $600 each year — out of pocket. This is an essential benefit of the act that many women literally can’t afford to lose.

Additionally, making birth control available over the counter would remove the possibility of being covered by insurance. Donald Trump and anti-choice politicians propose ideas like this to force women to pay out of pocket for contraception over the counter — even though women are already paying for it through insurance. This forces women to pay twice for the same benefit.

It’s disingenuous of the Review-Journal to point to emergency contraception as an example because it completely undermines the competition argument. Over-the-counter emergency contraception hasn’t reduced the price at all.

And the same drug companies that gave us $600 EpiPens aren’t going to give price breaks on something upward of 90 percent of American women use.

Out of one side of his mouth, Mr. Trump makes a claim that he’s helping women. But out of the other side, he’s actively working to dismantle the greatest expansion of contraceptive coverage of our time.

Caroline Mello Roberson

Reno

The writer is Nevada state director of NARAL Pro-Choice America, a political advocacy group that opposes restrictions on abortion.

Behind bars

I find it interesting that most minority voters are supporting Hillary Clinton for president. Did they forget that when Bill Clinton was in office, he was proud of passing the 1994 crime bill?

That bill has led to the mass incarceration of minorities — some people are serving life sentences for stealing a pizza or stealing a pair of socks.

This legislation that the Clintons were so happy about essentially threw away the key for many minorities who never got a second chance.

Steve Bass

Henderson

Pin message

In his Tuesday letter to the Review-Journal, Kurt Grosse argues that it is wrong for a defense attorney to wear a Black Lives Matter pin in court because it can cause a “negative state of mind” in the judge which will “hinder the interests of the attorney’s client.” This argument simply does not add up, and is refuted by Mr. Grosse himself in his last paragraph when he states that the “black lives matter” issue is in fact irrelevant to the case being heard.

To blame the pin for a judge’s inability to be completely impartial is like trying to blame a short dress for rape.

We hold the rapist accountable, not the short dress.

Richard L. Strickland

North Las Vegas