Abortion access
Two years ago, I wrote a guest commentary on the lack of access to abortion services in the Gorge. Unfortunately, nothing has changed — no clinic or hospital in the Gorge provides abortion, despite it being legal and protected, considered essential healthcare, widely accepted, and common (an average of one in four women experience an abortion by age 45). Fortunately, despite the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Washington and Oregon continue to maintain strong protections for their abortion patients and providers.
For Gorge residents, the closest providers are in Vancouver and Portland. One can imagine how inaccessible this must feel to a person without a car, or a teenager, or a low-wage worker without medical leave. We are fortunate that telemedicine and abortion pills can be accessed remotely. Medication abortions involve taking abortion pills at home, before 11 weeks of pregnancy, which cause an abortion that is similar to a miscarriage. They are safe and effective. Abortion pills can be accessed through telemedicine visits and mail delivery by certain WA and OR Planned Parenthood clinics, or telemedicine websites (such as INeedAnA.com or AbortionFinder.org). The local Gorge Abortion Access Collective is here to educate our community and support greater access (GorgeAccess.org).
If you are in a position to help someone facing an unwanted pregnancy — whether as a friend, parent, healthcare provider or social worker — please attend the upcoming “Abortion Access Community Workshop.” It will address how to access abortion services, how medication abortion works, how we can protect abortion under the new administration, and more. It will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 4, from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Hood River County Library meeting room (502 State Street). It is free, open to the public, and light dinner snacks will be provided. Please RSVP by Feb. 3 via forms.gle/FDcnc7TCV3voK9Xw7.
Karen Enns
White Salmon
Letter response
In response to my "Rich" letter (Your Voice, Dec. 25), the letter "Time to move on" was submitted to Columbia Gorge News (Your Voice, Jan. 8), which read in part, "Let the man do the job." What? He is incapable of doing the job. He is incompetent. And not only will he not strive to support the laws of the United States of America, he has shown ignorance of and scorn for those laws. He's merely a television personality. America WAS great. Not after electing Donald.
Adrian Fields
Hood River
Facts, no falsehoods
It is important to have facts and reality stand out in this era of disinformation and lies. As the economy was an issue in the 2024 election, let's look at what actually happened during the four years of the Biden administration.
The Department of Labor reported the total number of jobs created under Biden was 16.6 million, making him the only one to have created jobs every month. The U.S. also had the lowest average unemployment rate in 50 years, ending at 4.1%. The current inflation rate is under 3%, which is comparable to the rate in Trump's first term. As political historian Heather Cox Richardson additionally noted, working-age women are now employed at record levels, and the gap in employment between Black and white Americans is at the lowest level on record. Plus, incomes have increased about $4,000 more than prices.
This indicates policies and legislation that is benefiting the working and middle classes and building the U.S. economy. The stock market has also hit record highs. These real accomplishments are a measure to use in comparison to what the new Trump term will do with the good economy he inherited. Can he match these results or will his policies and decisions have negative consequences that hurt working families, but help the well-to-do? Will the truth be told about his costs, taxes, or will U.S. citizens be given falsehoods by the Trump administration? We need reality-based information and facts, and economic accountability for impacts to come affecting us all.
Steven Woolpert
White Salmon
Meter question
I was in downtown Hood River recently and noticed a motorhome parked on Fifth and Cascade. It has been in that same spot for quite some time. My question to the parking patrol is why is that motor home still parked there, and why is it not being towed off? I understand people living out of their motorhomes, but how is it fair when I have to submit a parking fee every time I go downtown and that same vehicle is still parked in the same spot?
Ron Dunn
Hood River
Your impacts
Here’s an impactful resolution for 2025: Make a plan to electrify your household. That will save you money, make our community more healthy, and incrementally improve your children’s chances of avoiding societal collapse.
Yes, the climate pollution and toxic pollution from burning fossil fuels in your vehicle and in your home make a big difference (42% of U.S. climate emissions.) By country, Americans have dumped the most pollution into the atmosphere and will suffer the most long-term damage from that.
While China is currently the largest annual emitter, China is manufacturing and installing enough renewable energy every year to clean up the entire U.S. electric grid. China is also adopting electric vehicles (EVs) so quickly that global oil demand will peak this year or next. King Coal went bankrupt and Big Oil is next.
Big Oil knew that their pollution would change the climate, and used Big Tobacco’s legal tactics to blame you for using their dangerous product. Now they spend billions on renting Congress and messaging that EVs won’t help and climate isn’t a problem — even as unprecedented wildfires, heat waves, and storms wreak havoc everywhere.
The good news: Electrifying the average U.S. household saves more than $2,300 on energy costs annually. But what about the upfront costs? The solution is to steer ongoing purchases of vehicles and appliances to zero-emission options, which have short or zero payback periods.
Thus you need a plan ready for electrifying your household when replacements are necessary or useful. Your next vehicle should be electric. Your next furnace should be a heat pump. Consider adding solar on your roof. Housing and transportation are the big choices that lock in your pollution for decades.
In addition to climate-changing pollution, fossil fuels cause our largest toxic pollution. Climate pollution is felt globally and over decades, but their toxic pollution is felt locally and immediately. Healthcare costs average $370 annually for a California household with gas appliances. Healthcare costs from burning gasoline average around $12 per gallon.
Let’s clean this up!
Books: "Electrify," "The Uninhabitable Earth," "Democracy in Chains." Websites: Rewiring America, Electrify Oregon, Berkeley Coolclimate Calculator.
Eric Strid
White Salmon
Commented