A recent letter writer wondered why there was no help nor resources available to women experiencing unplanned pregnancies in the wake of the Texas abortion decision. Actually, there are many groups out there who do offer assistance — including my group, Feminists for Life. Every single instance that she mentioned — whether poverty, lack of education, lack of shelter, lack of support from the father, you name it — there are a multitude of resources to turn to.

Many of our members have been in your shoes, sister, and we know what you're going through and want to help. Protecting unborn human life is a step forward, but much more needs to be done: Education, stronger societal support, and a better and greater choice of contraceptives is also needed. Unplanned pregnancies do occur, and they're never easy. Please know that you are loved and valuable, and you'll never have to make this journey alone.

Kay Kemper, Crystal

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The Supreme Court's refusal to stop enforcement of Texas' abortion law is seen as a novel way to outlaw abortion, and several states are poised to copy the new law. This signals the court's hostility to abortion, but it is only a temporary setback to abortion rights in Texas. The court majority stressed that it was not ruling on the constitutionality of the Texas law and did not mean to limit "procedurally proper challenges" to it. In other words, the court gave abortion foes several months to go after providers until they rule the law unconstitutional.

How do I know? The Supreme Court deals in legal concepts that can be applied to any law. The Texas law rests on a legal loophole that could be used to invalidate any constitutional protection. If it stands, the Bill of Rights means nothing.

Texas made abortion illegal after six weeks, which is unconstitutional under Roe v. Wade. The state could not prosecute anyone under the law, so it allows private citizens to sue in civil court, not only abortion providers but also anyone who "aids and abets" the procedure: Uber drivers, counselors, staff members, etc. It's a bounty system, with vigilantes getting $10,000 from each of the people they sue.

Tom Nelson, Minneapolis

We tend to blame politicians for our current state of affairs, usually overlooking how we contribute to the overall negative trends in politics. In his novel "Varina," Charles Frazier described how the wife of Jefferson Davis "talked a while, developing an argument that they — she and Jeff and the culture at large — had made bad choices ... . Choices of convenience and conviction, choices coincident with the people they lived among, following the general culture ... . Never acknowledging that the general culture is often stupid or evil or would vote out God in favor of the devil if he fed them back their hate and anger in a way that made them feel righteous. After years of loss and reflection, your old deluded decisions click together ... . [A]nd then one morning the world resembles the wake of Noah's flood, stretching unrecognizable to the horizon, and you wonder how you got there. One thing for sure, it wasn't ... luck or chance. Blame falls hard and can't be dodged by the guilty."

This was written about the years following the Civil War, but the cautionary message holds true today. We need to stop blaming the politicians for feeding our negative appetites, and recognize that our ill-considered choices and perspectives heavily contribute to the frayed political landscape, as well as to the overall detriment of our country.

Erick Woken, Coon Rapids

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Kathleen Coskran, Minneapolis

This weekend, I read a letter from a retired nurse ("Sadly hesitant to recommend the job," Sept. 4). She states her mind is often still nurse-oriented.

She has done many rewarding things during her career, including saving lives. She also alludes to the disrespect she has seen toward nurses. Yes, this is true.

I am a retired registered nurse. I can identify with everything the writer said. I have worked in oncology, psychiatry and hospice. I have also worked with demeaning comments from doctors, other medical staff and some patients. My heart, like hers, has never stopped being a nurse. It is the most rewarding job!

She says her granddaughters are considering becoming nurses, and she doesn't know how to advise them. I urge her, with everything in me, to encourage them. She said herself that nursing is still in her mind. Yes, sometimes they will be demeaned. In my years as a nurse, I learned quickly how to answer these comments and do it respectfully. It has worked.

Rita A. Kahn, Maple Grove

Just as I had not fully anticipated the challenge of raising two kids, I did not fully anticipate the joy of being a grandparent. While I must acknowledge the luxury of relationship without the full weight of responsibility, the joy goes deeper than that.

Sometime after the deaths of my beloved parents, I caught a fleeting glimpse in our digital photo frame of my family of origin sitting around the dinner table in the 1970s. The setting was so normal. So everyday: we seven kids, each in our "assigned seats" eating dinner, flanked by Mom and Dad.

What struck me for the first time was how much I missed that ritual of connecting, debating and squabbling with the people I would have assumed back then would always be around. I finally recognized as a supreme blessing that everyday interaction I'd long taken for granted.

Now well beyond youth's busyness and presumed invincibility, I have a heightened awareness of life's ephemeral nature. So, I savor Gracie sounding out her first book, Miles squealing with each wand of bubbles he clumsily unleashes, and Graham finding his voice for the first time. Otherwise, these ordinary moments that give life meaning are as fleeting as the photos in my digital frame.

Cory Gideon Gunderson, Lakeville