Readers Write for Monday, Nov. 23

HOUSE TAKES ON PAWLENTY

A group decision to support most vulnerable

Gov. Tim Pawlenty's elimination of essential public services through unallotment raises serious and important issues of constitutional law. The question is whether the governor's action was legal, not just whether it was wise.

Last week the Minnesota House of Representatives made a decision to support six poor, elderly and disabled people in their legal challenge to Pawlenty's actions. I was proud to support the decision by the House to file a friend-of-the-court brief on their behalf. Spending hundreds of thousands in taxpayer dollars to file a separate lawsuit would have been a far more difficult proposition.

So far, no other organization or government entity, aside from Legal Aid, has stepped forward to support these six people and the tens of thousands like them.

Contrary to a Nov. 18 letter, the House decision was not a unilateral act by House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, but a decision arrived at through a democratic process and at a public meeting.

Go-it-alone governing led Pawlenty to unallot programs on which our most vulnerable citizens rely for their basic needs. Anderson Kelliher led the Minnesota House of Representatives -- together -- in standing up to him.

REP. STEVE SIMON, DFL-ST. LOUIS PARK

CANCER SCREENING

Ask for test at 40; early treatment may succeed

I am disturbed with recent reports in the Star Tribune that a government task force, which included doctors and scientists, question the need for breast and prostate cancer screening for persons younger than 50.

I know women who, in their 30s and 40s, were diagnosed with early stage of breast cancer as a result of having done annual mammograms and self-exams. Because of the early detection they were able to receive treatment and continue to live a normal life.

My first PSA test was done at the recommended age of 50. The test uncovered an aggressive form of prostate cancer, resulting in having to undergo costly hormone treatment, surgery and yet to be started radiation treatment.

I do hope that people ask for mammograms and PSA tests, starting at age 40, based on recommendations from oncologists and urologists.

It is the cancers that are uncovered in younger adults that are more aggressive and life-threatening.

Early detection of these aggressive cancers results in less expensive treatments that work. Late-stage cancer is expensive to treat, if it can be treated at all.

RICHARD WOITTE, EDEN PRAIRIE

ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING

Keep up the good -- and courageous -- work

Bravo to the Star Tribune for its exclusive "New fears of 3M chemicals" environmental story (Nov. 15) -- and double bravo for giving it the prominence of your Sunday cover.

That kind of journalism is precisely why we subscribe to your newspaper -- enterprise reporting, especially on issues of the environment or corporate malfeasance, which affects our lives as local citizens. It takes courage to report on a major corporation like 3M. We deeply appreciate the Star Tribune's willingness to publish this kind of brave writing.

Please continue to pursue hard-hitting journalism. That one story about 3M and its Scotchgard-type chemicals will inspire us to renew our subscription (or rather, my two subscriptions). Thank you.

PAUL MACCABEE, ST. PAUL

Steps toward equality

To end bias, Minnesota law needs updating

Columnist Steve Chapman observed Nov. 18 that building a bridge to equality requires traveling one step at a time. This step-by-step approach allows for meaningful discussion and action, and attracts support from Minnesotans throughout the state. Minnesotans value fairness and equality. In fact, nearly eight out of 10 Minnesotans believe government should treat people no differently based on their sexual orientation, and 70 percent agree that "gays and lesbians should have the same rights and responsibilities as everyone else."

Research shows that at least 515 Minnesota laws currently discriminate against same-sex couples and their families based on legal terms such as "family," "next of kin" and "spouse." During the 2009 legislative session, policymakers passed and signed into law a medical lien bill that now protects the homes of same-sex partners and their families when a partner has died from a long-term illness -- just as it protects other families. While this was a step forward, other discriminatory laws are being passed.

While we cannot overlook the significance of these individual steps, we need to continue taking deliberate steps toward equality. If we do, Minnesota will become the state we all desire -- one that puts its values of fairness and equality into practice.

LAURA SMIDZIK, ST. PAUL