Kansas GOP says no to pacifism. In school shooting era, that’s a threat to students | Opinion
Inciting words
My son goes to Shawnee Mission North High School, and I am concerned about a recent text message circulating among students that appears to have come from the Johnson County Republican Party’s office. It calls for demonstrations at Shawnee Mission North as a way to protest diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives the school district uses when training teachers.
The message states: “Put fear aside. We cannot fight this evil by talking about it and doing nothing. We are not called to be pacifists.” This message means the party is willfully putting the lives of students at risk for political gain. Any implications of violence in an era of school shootings is irresponsible, dangerous and condemnable.
The Johnson County Republican Party must publicly disavow this text and any assertions that violence toward students is a legitimate political tool. To put students at risk over a policy disagreement is beyond the pale. The party should be ashamed of itself and the depths to which it has sunk. Should violence happen, its members will have blood on their hands.
- Mike Bannen, Overland Park
Safe for everyone
As the former CEO of Safehome, Johnson County’s domestic-violence agency, I was dismayed to read that some state legislators believe that only biological women can be victims of abuse (May 10, “Domestic violence shelters fear new Kansas restrictions on trans people endanger funds”). This inaccurate belief led to the passage of S.B. 180 — a discriminatory and dangerous action that restricts LGBTQ survivors’ access to domestic violence shelters.
Not only does this legislation put lives at risk, but it also endangers more than $14 million in federal funding for public safety services in Kansas. Despite the potential loss of funding, the state legislature overrode Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of this bill.
In 2016, I was proud to lead Safehome to become the first domestic-violence agency in the metropolitan area to open our shelter doors to any person in danger, regardless of sex, sexual orientation or gender identify. We had no issues with communal living because of this change.
Regardless of S.B. 180, no victim of abuse, including transgender people, should hesitate to seek confidential shelter services in Kansas. Help is available at 1-888-END-ABUSE.
Kansans deserve better than this legislation. We can and should protect all people from domestic violence.
- Janeé Hanzlick, Overland Park
Thanks to Marshall
It’s critical that patients with mental health diagnoses be able to work closely with their doctors to find the best medicine for them. Prescription-drug middlemen such as pharmacy benefit managers too often come between patients and their doctors.
PBMs decide which medicines will appear on formularies, and they have been taking advantage of their place in the drug supply chain to make huge profits. They negotiate discounts from manufacturers, but they do not share them with patients. Instead, PBMs base patient out-of-pocket costs on the original list prices of drugs. PBMs also require that patients fail a certain drug before they can try another.
In the case of patients dealing with mental illness, it is ridiculous that middlemen determine what medication they get above recommendations from their physicians. Finally, many PBMs also own pharmacies and require patients to fill prescriptions at these pharmacies even if they are miles from patients’ homes.
Patients need relief from these unfair practices. We are grateful that Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall has made reining in PBMs a priority. We look forward to federal reforms that will make prescription drugs more affordable and accessible for those struggling with mental illnesses.
- Susan Crain Lewis, President and CEO, Mental Health America of the Heartland, Kansas City, Kansas
Find their way
Somebody please buy Royals owner John Sherman a compass. (May 5, 1B, “Royals owner says team ‘headed in the right direction’”
- Bruce Strauss, Platte City
