My grandmother was 22 when Alice Paul drafted the Equal Rights Amendment. Grandmother lived to be 100 but struggled to survive on less than $500 a month in Social Security benefits because of her status as a farm wife. In the 1960s, my mother had to lie about how many kids she had in order to get a job to support those kids and, despite her intelligence and drive, worked in an underpaid clerical role. I am in my mid-50s and have been earning 78 cents to a man's dollar for almost 40 years. My daughter is 30, and I don't want her to face the same work and pay discrimination. The time for the ERA is now.

Gail T. Kulick, St. Paul
'COMPASSIONATE CARE ACT'

It should not pass — by any name or in any form

Dr. David B. Plimpton wrote a March 23 commentary ("Please help end needless suffering") on Senate Bill 1880 to legalize assisted suicide. He understood that the bill coming before the Minnesota Health, Human Services and Housing Committee that is focused on self-determination of the timing of one's death would proceed to the decisionmaking phase. State Sen. Kathy Sheran, the committee's chair, has now made it clear that no decision will be made this year.

As a retired physician who practiced medicine for 33 years in the St. Paul area and was active on United Hospital's ethics committee for many years, I was relieved to see that this bill is not on a fast track. This difficult issue is very susceptible to patient manipulation, as it addresses very stressful and agonizing situations and decisions.

This is why I believe that this legislation should not pass in any form. We are very fortunate in Minnesota to have excellent people like Dr. Kent Wilson and the staff of our medical society and key personnel at all of the health care organizations who have implemented the Honoring Choices form for advanced medical directives. This document, when properly done, addresses all of a patient's quality-of-life issues. It makes it mandatory that the health care agent have several discussions with the patient so that it is perfectly clear what the patient's needs and interests are and that, therefore, the family will have no guilt over the final decisions. This document is much easier to implement when the patient is actively dying, as after a severe stroke or accident or many other situations. When the prognosis is not as easily defined, it is much more humane and honest to utilize hospice and palliative care. There will still be challenges, of course, and that is why ethics committees exist.

The Senate bill dismisses the use of the phrase "physician-assisted suicide" and substitutes "aid in dying." How can you call the act of a physician signing a prescription that will, when ingested by the patient, result in the patient's death anything but physician-assisted suicide?

Dr. C. Richard Guiton, Mendota Heights

• • •

I am writing this in part for my mother, who passed away March 10. I would like anyone who opposes the Minnesota Compassionate Care Act to understand what anyone who is terminally ill — and their families, caregivers and doctors — have to endure. My mom, at 87, spent almost two years in a nursing home. Before that, my sister, stepfather, caregiver and I took care of her at her house. She had a stroke, developed dementia, and had too many trips to the doctor and emergency room to count. The pain and suffering she endured were heartbreaking, just as it was for us to watch the complete deterioration of her health, mind, body and dignity.

I wish everyone could go to a nursing home and visit with the terminally ill. The overwhelming majority would agree that, if they could choose, they would end their suffering. My mom expressed that if she ever was in a state of terminal illness, she wanted a do-not-resuscitate order. As dementia took over, she lost 30 pounds and could not walk, talk, feed herself, swallow, bathe herself or smile. Would you want that for yourself?

I think maybe "selfish" is the word that applies to prolonging an inevitable passing.

Francine Scott, Lakeville
WAGES

You probably don't need to be reminded, but … comparisons

On March 24 there were two stories about total compensation of people working in Minnesota. One was about the Minnesota House bill capping the minimum wage for tipped employees at $8 an hour, so their total compensation doesn't get too high. The other was the listing of the 2014 total compensation for two CEOs. Doug Baker, of Ecolab, made $47, 308,112, but that paled next to Jim Cracchiolo, of Ameriprise Financial, who took home $97,375,517. Can someone yell "time out, we're headed in the wrong direction here?" I hope Doug and Jim are both big tippers.

Lane Ayres, Edina
SOCCER STADIUM

Will it be the next in line, or the line in the sand?

Maybe no one else noticed, but one of the first articles that appeared in the Star Tribune on a possible new soccer stadium was in the same issue as an article on half-empty sports stadiums here and in other cities. I was truly glad to have Gov. Mark Dayton announce that he had no interest in a taxpayer-supported stadium.

There is irrefutable evidence that, for the community as a whole, sports stadiums are a losing proposition. Even if you do not openly support them, you should be talking to your legislators about what a dumb "investment" they are.

After all, who benefits? Do you? Your neighbors? The general public? Of course not. Stadiums benefit owners, wealthy individuals and business enterprises wishing to impress clients or potential clients. And, of course, players are awarded multimillion-dollar contracts and then proceed to knock themselves silly.

Are you really OK with this picture? I am not. Stick to your guns, Gov. Dayton!

Jean Coram, St. Paul

• • •

In a society focused on reducing racism, sexism and homophobia, we have a new inequity to zero in on: sportism. Dayton is clearly a blatant sportist. Only equal tax dollars and subsidies to pro soccer will right this institutional wrong.

Dale Vaillancourt, Burnsville

• • •

It is really hard to put all of this into perspective: $200 million for a soccer stadium. A billion for the Vikings stadium. More money to redo Target Center. And all our little Denmark Township Historical Society is trying to do is raise funds to restore the 1852 Valley School in south Washington County that we purchased with donations. Just $150,000 would make this happen. Maybe if we could put sports into it, people would be more interested. We could have games like Hangman; Tic-Tac-Toe; Hide the Thimble; Button, Button, Who's Got the Button?; Blind Man's Bluff; Ring Around the Rosie, and Drop the Handkerchief. Would we qualify for major donors' consideration then?

Mavis A. Voigt, Minneapolis

• • •

As the conversation about Major League Soccer in Minnesota begins, let's be smart about it. Let's not make the same mistake we made with football — and basketball — and baseball. Before another sports organization gets big enough to wag the dog, let's get out in front of the situation. Here's the plan: We contact a goodly number of cities and make a league of our own. Each city sells stock and keeps control of its own team. This model has been tried, and it has been successful (in Green Bay). No more blackmail. No more subsidizing billionaires. Make the hometown team the hometown's team.

Rolf Bolstad, Minneapolis