Opinion: Medicaid budget cuts threaten Granite Staters’ independence

By DEB RITCEY

Deb Ritcey is the president and CEO of Granite State Independent Living.

Opinion: Youth addiction prevention deserves our investment

By CELESTE CLARK

Celeste Clark is the executive director of the Raymond Coalition for Youth.

Opinion: Is Western civilization an empathy weakling?

By JEAN STIMMELL

Jean Stimmell, retired stone mason and psychotherapist, lives in Northwood and blogs at jeanstimmell.blogspot.com and jstim.substack.com.

Opinion: Momnibus 2.0 will improve care and outcomes for new moms

By DANIELLE ALBUSHIES

Danielle Albushies, MD, is an OB/GYN at Bedford Commons and a board member of the New Hampshire Medical Society.

Opinion: Where are the permanent solutions for a more stable budget?

By SCOTT METZGER

Scott Metzger lives in Hopkinton.

Opinion: Mental health is essential health

By D.J. BETTENCOURT

D.J. Bettencourt is commissioner of the New Hampshire Insurance Department. He lives in Salem.

Opinion: Taking AmeriCorps NCCC away from the next generation is a mistake

By MARIA WILKINSON

Maria Wilkinson is currently a JD student at the University of New Hampshire Law School. She lives in Concord.

Opinion: Downshifting is just another way to say property tax increase

By CATHY ANN STACEY and MARGARET BYRNES

Cathy Ann Stacey is the Rockingham County Register of Deeds and president of the New Hampshire Association of Counties. Margaret Byrnes is executive director of the New Hampshire Municipal Association.

Opinion: New Hampshire needs more hospital competition to lower costs for patients

By KEVIN ST JAMES

Kevin St James is a FF/AEMT and former state representative, county commissioner and selectman in Kingston.

Opinion: My mother’s story

By PARKER POTTER

Parker Potter is a former archaeologist and historian and a retired lawyer. He is currently a semi-professional dogwalker who lives and works in Contoocook.

Opinion: The tragedy of Israel’s descent

By JONATHAN P. BAIRD

Jonathan P. Baird lives in Wilmot

Opinion: The value of government-sponsored arts

By JOHN BUTTRICK

John Buttrick writes from his Vermont Folk Rocker in his Concord home, Minds Crossing. He can be reached at johndbuttrick@gmail.com.

Opinion: EFAs fund schools that exclude my children

By JENNIFER BELMONT-EARL

Jennifer Belmont-Earl is a mother with two children in public schools. She lives in Barrington.

Opinion: Reject book bans because to read freely is to live freely

By AMANDA AZAD

Amanda Azad is the policy director at the ACLU of New Hampshire.

Opinion: Communities suffer when local police enter into 287(g) agreements to conduct immigration enforcement

By GRACE KINDEKE and EVA CASTILLO

Grace Kindeke is the New Hampshire Program Coordinator at the American Friends Service Committee. She was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and lives in Manchester with her family. Eva Castillo is the Director of the New Hampshire Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees and a longtime advocate for immigrant rights. Originally from Venezuela, she lives in Manchester with her family.

Opinion: My memories of Vietnam 50 years later

By JEAN STIMMELL

Jean Stimmell, retired stone mason and psychotherapist, lives in Northwood and blogs at jeanstimmell.blogspot.com.

Letter: Is this logical?

When a pregnant woman has a dead or dying entity in her womb, she needs an abortion to remove it to save her from an infection from the dead tissue. One being may be alive and healthy with the other dead in utero. Myriad other conditions could require this remedy to save a woman’s health or life. If a woman were not pregnant and had a festering wound, she would be by law permitted to refuse treatment for it even if it would kill her, so long as she is competent and not under the influence of drugs or other compromising circumstances. If a person is so high on a drug, belligerent,or violent they have become dangerous to anyone else, the police or another person could kill them in self-defense. If a person had a limb excised because of damage to it, he/she would never be required to carry it around on their person until it rotted away. Why are women with dangerous pregnancies refused the only sane remedy? How can any child be born without women who are free to choose to give life? How is rape a crime but forced pregnancy is not? Freedom means being able to say “no” or “yes.”

Letter: Judicial overreach threatens executive authority

In just over two months — from January 20 to March 27, 2025 — rogue judges issued seventeen nationwide injunctions against President Trump’s lawful actions. This level of judicial interference is not only unprecedented, it is extremely dangerous to our constitutional system. Anarchists might be pleased, but both conservative and liberal citizens should be very concerned. For example, federal district judges have blocked executive orders addressing birthright citizenship, immigration reform, federal employment, foreign aid, and military readiness. Executive actions that fall squarely within presidential authority have been frozen nationwide by unelected judges, often before a full hearing on the merits.

Letter: Mass deportations defy due process rights

During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump pledged to deport millions of people on the basis of immigrant criminality and/or illegal entry into the United States. Once in office, Trump authorized the start of mass deportations with great fanfare. However, deportation rates fell far short of the numbers that Trump had projected. A concerted effort to stage various photo-ops ensued.