Sen. Rick Scott touts his support for IVF a day after voting against it in Senate

Flip-flop: Scott supports IVF or doesn't

Democratic Party senators have tried to pass several bills that would create legal protections for in vitro fertilization at the national level.

Two Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, voted with the Democratic majority on the Right to IVF Act. The rest of the Republican senators voted to kill the bill, including Florida’s Rick Scott and Marco Rubio.

Subsequently, Scott released a campaign ad in which he supported IVF. This is hypocrisy at its worst.

One of my grandchildren is a product of IVF so I am a staunch advocate of the procedure. I hope every Floridian, especially women voters, remembers Scott’s hypocrisy when voting Nov. 5. He needs to be removed from the Senate because he simply can’t be trusted.

Robert Herickhoff, Nokomis

Commission makes finding day care tougher

Why are the Sarasota County commissioners eliminating support for day care for low-income and working-class families? Early childhood education is so important for children to be ready for school.

Studies have shown that the brain develops the most in the first five years. In good day care, children learn social and emotional skills, and school readiness and play skills.

As a retired early childhood education teacher with a master’s in special education, I have volunteered in a day care for the working poor in Sarasota County. I know the struggles these families face in finding day care, affordable housing and food. I have celebrated the documented improvements in the children’s readiness skills and behavior.

Without the subsidy support from the county, where are children going to go when their parents are working? How are they going to receive the meals they need?We already have a shortage of service workers because people cannot afford to live in our community.

The situation is only going to get worse, and it will affect all of us.

Please, commissioners, reinstate the day care subsidies. Our children deserve better from us.

Gayle Davis, Venice

The US needs more babies

The replacement birth rate to maintain a country’s viability is determined to be an average of 2.1 births per woman.  The current rate for the U.S. is 1.7 and decreasing.

Good luck to all those younger generations who are counting on reasonable Social Security payments to support their retirements.

And is it not ironic that the major issue for these generations in the current presidential race is to allow the continued killing of more than 1 million unborn children each year through legal abortion?

Paul Nielsen, Sarasota

(Editor's note: At the writer's request, the following is a revised version of a letter published June 2.)

No one is above the law

A 22-year-old National Guardsman from Massachusetts pleaded guilty to mishandling classified data in exchange for a reduced prison sentence of 16 years.

President Joe Biden has been accused of mishandling classified information throughout his political career but, according to special counsel, should not be held accountable because of his age and memory. Former President Donald Trump has been indicted for retaining classified information from his presidency and a trial is currently underway.

In terms of culpability, the case against Biden is the most egregious. His violations span a longer period, including when he was senator, vice president and a civilian. Because of his long career in the federal government, he should have known the rules and the penalties.

The hapless 22-year-old was improperly trained and supervised. The wrong person is going to prison.

If President Biden is too old to be held accountable for classified material, doesn’t that make him too old to be president?

What happened to “There is no one above the law”?

John H. Leeper, Englewood

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sen. Scott can't be trusted on IVF