Letters to the editor, April 22: On gun ownership and Medicaid for new moms

Raise gun ownership age to 21

I urge the members of the Texas House Committee on Community Safety (Reps. Ryan Guillen, Jarvis D. Johnson, Rhetta Andrews Bowers, Dustin Burrows, Terry Canales, Mark Dorazio, Vikki Goodwin, Sam Harless, Justin Holland, Tracy O. King, Brooks Landgraf, Joe Moody and Ellen Troxclair) to pass House Bill 2744 out of your committee and on to the Senate. This bill will raise the age to purchase semiautomatic weapons from 18 to 21.

This is your opportunity to reduce the shooting loss of life done by persons from 18 to 21 years old. That sounds significant to me. What are you waiting for?

David Troiano,

Highland Village

Medicaid for new mothers

I write to voice my support for House Bill 12, which would expand access to Medicaid for new mothers in Texas from two to 12 months postpartum.

Maternal health complications throughout the year after delivery are hardly uncommon, and passage of this bill would help ensure that all women have access to supportive (and sometimes life-saving) health care.

For my part, having given birth to two children in the last five years, receiving appropriate medical care has been essential to my well-being and has allowed me to better support the growth and development of my children. Raising young children can be all-consuming and leave mothers feeling physically depleted even when they do not experience additional health problems. Mothers who can’t access needed health care suffer and so do their children. That lack of access to care is a reality for too many Texas mothers.

In Texas and around the country, 162 organizations have signed on to support the passage of HB 12. First United Methodist Church of Denton and United Way of Denton County are among those organizations. Gov. Greg Abbott, the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee, and the Texas School Readiness Dashboard have all expressed support for Medicaid coverage through one year postpartum.

In voting for HB 12, our state Legislature would be voting for healthier mothers, children and families. They would be voting for a stronger, healthier Texas.

Mikayla Stucki,

Denton