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LETTERS Staying north; Quinn is in
2014-07-30

This article shared 3370 times since Wed Jul 30, 2014
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Staying north

LGBT people, their friends and families are everywhere, of course, but the heart of Chicago's ( Illinois/Midwest U.S. ) gay community is still in the Lake View/Uptown area. The various LGBT community events—like Pride Fest, the Pride Parade and Northalsted Market Days—are also located in the area for the financial benefit of the many local LGBT-friendly businesses, especially the many bars and clubs.

These businesses and the rainbow pylons streetscaping/Legacy Walk outdoor museum/Center on Halsted are the obvious signs that this is the out and proud center of Chicago's LGBT community.

More heterosexual families ( many with young children ) have moved into our neighborhood through gentrification. But these newer families must be tolerant of the diversity that is Lake View/Uptown and should be able to stand some noise, mess, party behavior, closed streets, etc., a few days a year during the summer. Illegal behavior should not be tolerated. LGBTs are forming legal families of their own, some with children of their own, and are a vital part of any community that they choose to live in. I moved here from the suburbs in 1989 and chose the Lake View area because it is LGBT-friendly and the center of our community. Many LGBT people still come here or move here for that same reason.

If the LGBT parade is moved to downtown Chicago, then Chicago should have only one St. Patrick's Day Parade, also downtown. Having that second St. Patrick's Day Parade on the South Side—where many Irish-Chicagoans live or like to hang out—makes sense only if the LGBT parade stays in the Lake View/Uptown area, where LGBT people live and like to hang out. Keeping the Pride Parade on the North Side still makes more sense to me.

Robert Rohdenburg

Chicago

Quinn is in

Personal PAC opposes restrictions on access to abortion and birth control that put the health and lives of any group of women at risk as a matter of sound public policy, fairness and equality. Abortion should be a private medical decision that every woman, regardless of age, economic status or geography, can make in consultation with her physician according to her own religious and personal beliefs. Not politicians.

Unfortunately, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner supports one of the most dangerous restrictions on abortion—a restriction that is squarely aimed at the most vulnerable population of women. Young women have the greatest need for confidentiality, accurate information and immediate access to medical care when making the decision about whether to carry a pregnancy to term.

Thousands of young women in Illinois who discover they are pregnant find themselves at risk for violence and abuse by parents who are not capable of helping their teenager. These pregnant young women are frightened, desperate, and in need of professional medical counseling and care at arm's length from an abusive parent. Statistics show that too often, a minor's pregnancy is the result of repeated incest or rape by a male family member or someone in close proximity to the pregnant teenager.

For these reasons, the American Medical Association ( AMA ) and EVERY reputable professional medical and child advocacy organization in the U.S. strongly oppose all laws that force young women to inform a parent that she is seeking an abortion. Fortunately, the vast majority of minors voluntarily involve an adult family member in their decisions. We completely agree that parental involvement by a supportive parent is in the best interest of everyone involved.

Rauner supports mandatory parental notice in Illinois. Since August, when the Illinois parental notice law went into effect, countless teenagers have been forced to resort to unsafe and dangerous methods of terminating a pregnancy in order to avoid the wrath of an abusive parent. Others have been required to carry unwanted pregnancies to term, thereby continuing the cycle of poverty for another generation. Personal PAC is working to prevent tragedies like Becky Bell, an Indiana teenager, who died of a back-alley abortion under Indiana's mandatory parental-involvement law because she was unwilling to tell her parents that she had gotten pregnant. Personal PAC knows that the clock is ticking in Illinois on our own Becky Bell tragedy.

With Rauner's support, this dangerous restriction will help advance the right-wing anti-abortion agenda of preventing as many women as possible from seeking safe and legal medical procedures that would protect their health and their lives. In one of his first official acts as a candidate for governor, Bruce Rauner personally selected a lieutenant governor running mate from the extreme right-wing of the Republican Party. Lieutenant governor candidate Evelyn Sanguinetti believes abortion should be outlawed in Illinois. Given that 25 percent of all governors in the U.S. over the past few decades reached the post from the lieutenant governor perch, every pro-choice voter in Illinois should think long and hard about the possibility of a far right-wing governor in our great state by casting a vote for the Rauner/Sanguinetti ticket.

Gov. Pat Quinn is 100-percent pro-choice and cares deeply about the lives, dreams and aspirations of women which is the embodiment of reproductive choices. Over the past six years, he has demonstrated that he supports complete access to the full range of reproductive health care for all women in Illinois. In addition, Quinn selected Paul Vallas, a qualified, proven, 100-percent pro-choice leader, as his running mate for lieutenant governor. Personal PAC has and will continue to unequivocally support Pat Quinn and Paul Vallas.

Terry Cosgrove

President & CEO

Personal PAC


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