Whose children are Republicans protecting?

Republican politicians in Iowa and across the country say they are passing laws to “protect” children. I’m not sure which children they are protecting, but I know which ones they are not.

Not the child from a poor rural area who attends a failing school and can’t use a voucher for private school because there are none in the entire county.

Not the transgender child who has to start using a different bathroom in school and must discontinue treatment that is approved by every major medical association in the country.

Not the poor child who goes to work for six hours on school nights at a meatpacking plant, construction site, or some other dangerous job.

Not the gay child who goes to the school library to find a book about other kids who are like him and learns they have been banned.

Not the Black child who wants to learn the true history of slavery and oppression in America rather than a dishonest version that whitewashes our past.

The children Republican politicians can’t be bothered to protect are the most vulnerable and powerless young Americans, thrown under the bus to please extremists and greedy corporations.

They should be ashamed. But then shame seems to be out of style in today’s Republican Party.

James McNeill lll

Cedar Rapids