I am a 77-year-old woman who grew up in Connecticut when abortion and birth control were illegal.

In high school, I met my future husband. It was a typical teenage romance that progressed from timid kisses to petting. Going further might lead to a pregnancy. Since we both planned on college, that was a scary prospect.

Seven years later, married, with our degrees complete, we discovered I was pregnant, due in early March.

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In mid-December I realized the fetus had stopped moving. After an exam, my doctor told us our baby was dead. In shock and trying to absorb this terrible outcome, we heard him say state laws might mean I would have to carry my dead fetus to term.

Shortly before Christmas, my doctor wrangled me into the hospital, where I underwent a painful, hourslong, induced birth.

I never saw my daughter. Her body was whisked away, a mask was clamped over my mouth and the doctor performed a dilation and curettage to remove any tissues that might cause bleeding or infection.

It was brutal, but I was lucky to have a doctor who valued his patient’s life over any state regulation. Today, women in states that have recently passed draconian anti-abortion laws may not be so lucky.

We are back to a time when women had no power over their lives and bodies. As I watched the young women and men on TV celebrate the end of Roe, all I could think was “Be careful what you wish for.”

Regarding calling a local candidate for office “Baby Killer”:

The term “Baby Killer” evokes visions of the worse kind and is meant to illicit hatred. Instead of name-calling, there’s a more proactive path for anti-abortion advocates to pursue.

Right now, there are an estimated 1 million frozen embryos in this country. Many are discarded simply because of high annual storage fees.

Women, put your money where your mouth is. Or better put, “put your values where your womb is.”

As with the unwavering prayers and persistence used to overturn Roe v. Wade, unwanted embryos can be rescued by you.

Men, compassionately coerce your wives, daughters, mothers or mistresses to open their hearts and wombs to save these babies left in labs.

Plan B: At the very least, adopt the 420,000 kids in foster care waiting to be part of your loving homes. 

By authorizing a surprise and probably unnecessary search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida home, Attorney General Merrick Garland finally achieved his revenge on the Republicans for not allowing him the opportunity to serve on the Supreme Court after he was nominated by President Barack Obama.

While I understand Garland's disappointment in not becoming a justice, it appears that he is putting his personal feelings ahead of what is best for our country. After reviewing his biased performance as AG, I feel relieved that Garland was not selected to serve on the Supreme Court.

At 12:30 p.m. on Aug. 15 I left my volunteer job at Gulf Gate Library. It had rained on and off all morning and was raining heavily at 12:30. 

I needed to go north on Beneva Road, so I joined the queue trying to turn left from Gulf Gate Drive. We never got a green light. Traffic streamed merrily by on Beneva.  

Some brave souls took the righthand turn lane, then made a quick left when traffic was sparse. More cautious folks like me made a U-turn and went west on Gulf Gate Drive. 

I wanted nothing to do with the Beneva-Clark intersection: as your paper has reported, when the skies are gray or it is raining, the traffic sensors cannot detect traffic on Beneva and the traffic on Clark flows on without interruption.

NASA can put a spacecraft on Mars. Why can't Sarasota County have traffic light sensors that work when it is cloudy or raining?