Kentucky Representative Daniel Elliott’s Legislative Update was published in the Advocate-Messenger Weekend Edition, March 11-13, 2022. As I do before I write any rebuttal, I did some research and discovered more than I can I put in my 400-word letter to the editor.

First, Elliott’s legislative update was not written by Elliott. In my research, I discovered the exact update in the Murray Ledger-Times, with Rep. Mary Beth Imes in the by-line, word-for-word. It is the Republican legislative update, which cannot be ascertained in anyway by the way it appears in the paper. The paper shows that Elliott is the columnist, which implies he wrote the words the newspaper published. Maybe in the future, it will published as the Republican Legislative Update, instead of implying it was written by Elliott.

Second, the update states that the Supreme Court upheld HB 454 and that the law is now codified, or officially law. This is not true. The Court stated that the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals erred when it did not allow Attorney General Daniel Cameron to intervene as a new legal representative on behalf of the state. The case was sent back to the 6th Circuit to hear Cameron’s appeal of the lower court’s finding that the law is unconstitutional.

The Republican legislative update called this decision “a big win for the pro-life movement and for the commonwealth”. As the law currently stands, it is unconstitutional, so

I guess it is a big win for pro-life people who see life outside the womb as life.

Next, the Republican legislative update described the pill used to induce an abortion as a “chemical abortion pill”, which is technically correct, as most commercially-produced pharmaceuticals are chemicals. The medicine used to control cholesterol, it’s a chemical cholesterol pill. Medicine used to keep blood pressure down (which I need after realizing the truth of Elliott’s “legislative update”) is chemical blood pressure medicine.

Words, honesty, and transparency matter when used to inform and educate. In the case of the Republican legislative update, words are used to bring about an emotional reaction in order to manipulate. The reason so many citizens have little, to no, respect for politicians is because we are tired of the lies and manipulation.

We, the people, are smart and deserve better from our elected officials.

Elaine Wilson-Reddy
Danville