Monday's letters: Ineffective abortion ban, insurance crisis, reuse for old hotel, more

Women will die because of abortion ban

The governor states that he is saving lives with Florida’s new abortion ban. Nothing could be further from the truth. Women will die.

Whether abortion is legal or not, desperate women will find a way. This abortion law should never had happened. This decision should be made between a woman and her doctor.

The men who are writing these bills say no to masks and vaccines. They want to decide what to put in their bodies or on their faces. And yet, they are the same people telling a woman what she can and cannot do with her body.

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For the record, I would not have an abortion. I was privileged to have the means to provide for my three children and a supportive husband. I was never raped or abused by a family member.

If you don’t believe in abortion, don’t have one. Desperate women deserve a choice.

Susan Terry, Nokomis

Legislature’s goal: dismantle school system

The 2022 legislative session enacted multiple bills that hamstring district public schools’ ability to provide a safe, accepting, educationally stimulating and rewarding environment for children.

Columnist Michelle Pozzie is wrong to blame their passage on School Board members such as Tom Edwards (“School Board member isn’t bystander in ‘culture war,’” April 14). The Legislature’s goal is obvious: Reduce support for public schools while increasing support for private schools and charters, eventually dismantling the entire public-school structure.

Is my conclusion justified? Absolutely. As a result of these bills, schools, once the centerpiece of community life, now find themselves animus targets of a small group of parents demanding their personal views be imposed on all children. Some of the harmful legislation Edwards cites results in teachers’ uncertainty, self-censorship, resignation from the profession and, ultimately, teacher shortages.

Some bills encourage parents to sue districts when they don’t get what they want. The Legislature claims benefits of these bills, but deceitfully and simultaneously waives the requirements for charter schools and expands private school voucher opportunities for families by raising the family income cap.

Residents must consider the consequences to our children’s education and our community life if legislators succeed and, indeed, our local schools are shuttered.

Jill Lewis-Spector, Ed.D., Sarasota

Legislature can’t ignore insurance crisis

They are all leaving or they’ve already left. No, not the snowbirds, the insurance companies who write homeowner policies in Florida.

The Florida Legislature has left, too, despite leaving unaddressed the crisis in the Florida insurance markets.

Over the last few years, nine property and casualty insurance companies have been put into liquidation. More than a dozen companies have suspended new business or limited the types of homes they insure.

If your homeowners’ insurance bill hasn’t gone through the roof, or worse, your policy been discontinued, just wait.

The Legislature escaped before tackling the property insurance issue. Lawmakers couldn’t agree on a solution to relieve homeowners of double-digit rate hikes, so they ignored the problem and passed nothing.

St. Petersburg Republican Sen. Jeff Brandes is calling for a special session to address the insurance crisis. We have a limited window of opportunity to voice our support. Call your representatives and insist that they find a solution to the insurance crisis.

Edward Denecke, Englewood

Turn old hotel into affordable apartments

I think a writer’s suggestion in her letter April 14 is brilliant. I agree with her 100% that we should rally the owner(s) of the former West Beach Resort Hotel in Venice to put this facility back into service to accommodate the needs of Ukrainian immigrants (“House Ukrainians in former Venice hotel,” April 14).

But hey, if not them, why not fix up the hotel and rent the rooms to working class citizens who cannot afford the extravagant rents now being charged by landlords.

I would be willing to help with some of the renovations, like painting, ripping out old carpets and replacing old furniture with beautiful thrift store finds.

I’ll go one step further and suggest the city of Venice purchase this building and hire residents to fix it up. It would be a win-win for our community.

I happen to live in a lovely retirement village and know good help is hard to find. We are actually contemplating using robots due to the lack of workers.

If workers making the minimum wage can move into something like this facility, it would be a major plus for restaurants and other businesses in Venice, but also would show other communities how vacant and neglected properties can be brought back to life.

The letter writer deserves a "Thank you" for this wonderful idea.

Janine Joyner, Venice

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: New abortion ban deadly, state ignoring insurance crisis