To The Eagle:

Over half of the Nevada legislature are women, and they are busy lighting candles instead of cursing the darkness.

Their senate just passed the Trust Nevada Women Act which codifies women’s reproductive rights and decriminalizes all abortion related matters.

They are also on the cusp of joining the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. The object of the compact is to bypass the Electoral College by mandating that their six electors commit their votes to whichever presidential candidate has nationally won the most popular votes.

The compact will be triggered when 270 electoral votes can be secured as described. Fourteen states have committed their 189 electoral votes to the compact. Nevada could be the fifteenth state to join, bringing the total to 195.

It remains to be seen if 81 additional electoral votes will be gleaned before the next election cycle, but the trend is gathering force toward the future. The election of our president is the most important election in the world. For the American people, every vote should be equal and every vote should count.

Another light in the darkness are the Colorado legislators who from 2009 until 2013 provided free contraception medication and devices to all the female residents of the state. The Colorado Department of Health statistics confirmed that as a result, the incidence of teen pregnancies decreased by 40 percent and the demand for abortions dropped by 42 percent.

This remarkable success was achieved through a combination of state and private donor financing. The Dept. of Health declared this to be an excellent women’s health initiative that could be a template for national application.

When funding for the program was ending, the governor and the Democrats threw their support behind a bill that would provide $5 million to continue it.

Republican senators killed the bill in committee. Science, success and compassion were once again Trumped by unconscionable political ideology. It makes one want to curse that sort of darkness.

Find a way to light a candle instead.

JB Bouchard

Puget Island