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Gender-affirming care is a personal need. Thanks for protecting it, Kansas City | Opinion

Those who need it

The May 11 ordinance protecting the right of people in Kansas City to receive gender-affirming care is good for public health. As the assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I visited Kansas City on March 31 to see the city’s public health needs firsthand. I met with Mayor Quinton Lucas and other city leaders and heard from the community about the need for continued access to necessary medical services. The City Council worked quickly to respond to a clearly stated public need and should be commended for its efforts.

It is unfortunate that so much confusion and misinformation has sprung up around gender-affirming care. The reality falls well short of the hype. The doctors who deliver this care are thoughtful and professional. They follow evidence-based standards of care. The process of assessing a patient’s medical needs before deciding on a course of action is comprehensive. Doctors understand the full context of patients’ lives and take nothing for granted. They are trained and do not rely on guesswork.

Although far from all Missourians need this care, those who do should not have to worry about a third party coming between them and their doctor.

- Adm. Rachel Levine, Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C.

Woke elitists

The Johnson County committee’s recommendation not to change the name of Negro Creek got it right. The Star’s editorial board doesn’t get it. (May 15, 7A, “It’s wrong to keep using the Negro Creek name”)

The campaign to rename Negro Creek — an unmarked, obscure, unknown little stream in Leawood — began with woke elitists searching government databases for potentially offensive words to censor. Negro Creek was discovered on a hydrographic map, but it does not appear on commonly used maps such as Google Maps. According to the editorial board, “Negro” is a pejorative term today, so it needs to be wiped off the map in Kansas. Really?

“Negro” is proudly used in many names such as the Negro Leagues, Negro Leagues Baseball League Museum and United Negro College Fund without media scorn. Only the few perpetually aggrieved souls seeking a spot on the woke fainting couch are likely to take offense at using the word “Negro.” Most of us will not.

Will the editorial board be true to its characterization of “Negro” and wipe it off the name of the Negro Leagues Baseball League Museum?

Fortunately, the committee wasn’t swayed by false moralizing and manufactured indignity and brought a sense of proportion and reason to this situation. Its members are to be congratulated for a job well done.

- Ron Ward, Lenexa

Flat tax reality

Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins must have failed math in school if he thinks the flat tax would provide tax relief to Kansans. (May 11, 9A, “House speaker: Kelly shouldn’t have vetoed flatter tax bill”) By my calculations, based on married households filing jointly, the only Kansans who would receive reductions under Republicans’ flat 5.15% proposal are those making $166,000 or more. Everyone making less would get a tax increase.

The reality is that flat rate taxes are regressive. The lowest earners pay a higher proportion of their wealth to tax and the highest earners pay a lower proportion — in other words, tax cuts for those who need it the least.

The flat tax is really a gimmicky quick fix that Kansans don’t want.

- Michael Hansen, Olathe

Jury hazards

On April 3, I reported for jury duty in Clay County, along with 100 others. My wife and I have managed to avoid the coronavirus for three-plus years, but four days after being crowded in the courtrooms, I had full-blown COVID-19. Four days later, my 72-year-old wife had caught it from me. I wore a KN-95 mask the entire time I was inside the courthouse, but only two other people wore masks.

I’m 68 years old and, fortunately, with Paxlovid, seem to have recovered fully. But I couldn’t help wondering if jury pools are often super-spreader events. Had I been chosen for a jury, I would have been unable to complete my service.

- Scott DeMoss, Gladstone