Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Letters To The Editor

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Senator Kevin Kelly Dodges Stance on Women’s Health

by Rachel S. Rusnak
Stratford

Since this is an opinion piece, I will be frank right off the bat- our current State Senator leaves much to be desired!

Kevin Kelly, representing areas of Stratford, Shelton, Monroe, and Seymour is out of touch, true, but also negligent when it comes to representing the people of his district.

Kelly touts “support” for women and families in his most recent campaign literature.  Despite this, he voted against the State budget, which included tax cuts for Connecticut families. Then, he abstained from voting on the women’s reproductive healthcare bill.

Upon the overturning of Roe, Kelly provided a lackluster non-response “ The Supreme Court’s decision does not change a woman’s right to choose in the state of Connecticut, nor will it,” Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly and Senate Republican Leader Pro Tempore Paul Formica wrote in a statement.

Despite what his mailers may say, his actions, and lack thereof,  speak LOUD and CLEAR: women and families are not priorities for this politician. I find it curious that Kelly, whose district is 52% female, abstained from voting on the reproductive healthcare of women.

Either women’s healthcare is so unimportant to him that he couldn’t be bothered to vote, or he refuses to make his position clear to the voters who will cast their ballots this November.  Regardless of Kelly’s comments, the overturning of Roe affects the women of Connecticut. Media coverage of women across that State organizing, rallying, and speaking out literally cannot be avoided.

For Kelly to publicly pronounce that the decision doesn’t affect CT women indicates that he’s willfully not paying attention to his constituents – that is neglect. The Supreme Court decision also opened the door to the erosion of other long-held rights. What other topics will be up to our state legislature to decide on in the coming months and years?

What other topics will Kelly ignore? On what other topics will he refuse to take a stance,  and fail to represent his constituents? I suppose we will find out in November how lenient voters are willing to be for politicians who refuse to take a clear stand on defending our rights.

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