June 30-July 7

Oceanside/Island Park Letters to the Editor

Posted

Allow gay men to give blood

To the Editor:

My wife and I agree wholeheartedly with the editorial in your June 23-29 issue, “Lift the restrictions on gay men donating blood.” 

As proud parents of two gay sons, 36 and 33, we believe they should be allowed to donate blood. Our oldest son has been married to his husband for nearly six years. Together they have blessed us with 11-month-old twin grandsons. His younger brother indicates to us that he practices safe sex. 

Why should they be restricted from donating life-saving blood?

John Purcell

Oceanside

 

Progress on heroin epidemic, ethics reform

To the Editor:

I am proud to announce that, due in part to our conference spearheading this issue, we have passed three comprehensive bills to combat the devastating heroin and opioid crisis in our state. These new measures will increase opportunities for people to get the help they desperately need, streamline access to coverage and address the overprescribing by medical professionals that facilitates an individual’s initial addiction. However, these are only the first steps, and we must continue to vigorously end this deadly crisis.

 Corrupt politicians should never receive taxpayer-funded pensions and I am honored to announce that we have finally passed a pension-forfeiture measure, the first of a three-step process, along with several other ethics reforms, in both houses. However, this should not have taken until the final hours of the session to become a reality. Our constituents deserve better, and I will continue fighting for the most stringent ethics reforms in the nation until we can be sure that criminals will no longer walk among us in the Legislature.

David McDonough

Assemblyman

14th District