Anti-transgender bills would restrict rights of minority groups

I am disturbed by the recent number of anti-transgender bills being proposed in Georgia and other states. There are bills limiting gender-affirming medical care, bills to ban books discussing transgender topics, and bills criminalizing drag shows.

Medical decisions should be a private matter between the person (and parent/guardian, if minors) and their doctor. The government should not have the right to deny a person medical care that has been approved by a licensed physician.

Librarians should not fear fines or jail time for allowing someone to read a book. I am not advocating pornography in elementary schools. I am advocating age-appropriate books for students.

As for drag shows, let the parent decide if their child can attend. We should trust those parents to be smart enough to take their children to age-appropriate entertainment.

Transgender people are not a threat to our democracy. Laws designed to restrict the rights of minority groups are the threat.

TERRI SMITH, SHARPSBURG

Murdaugh was a bad guy, but likely not a murderer

Alex Murdaugh is on trial in the small town of Walterboro, S.C., for the 2021 murder of his wife and son. The trial has gained national attention and is being followed on TV and elsewhere, with viewers trying to solve the murder.

The prosecuting attorney, hoping to show that Murdaugh was a bad guy, presented to the jury excruciatingly boring details of Murdaugh’s financial unethical behavior when he was a well-known local attorney.

Murdaugh took the wind out of the prosecutor’s sails when he freely admitted he cheated some clients out of money and was addicted to opioids. The prosecuting attorney has made the mistake of trying to manipulate the jury into convicting Murdaugh of murder for being a sleazy attorney.

This jury, in this small town, in this state, may be country folks, but they are not stupid. There is no murder weapon, no bloody clothes and no witness. My opinion -- the jury will find Murdaugh not guilty.

BECKY SMITH, ROSWELL

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Gov. Brian Kemp talks about his signature health insurance initiative for Georgia's low-income residents, Georgia Pathways to Coverage, a limited Medicaid expansion for those who work or perform certain activities. (Hyosub Shin/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Credit: TNS

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