Cancel Culture Alive and Well

First, I will opine on Pride Month, our annual pilgrimage to the grim side of life, then President Trump’s reversal on cutting Planned Parenthood Title X funds, next more of an explanation of PBMs (Pharmacy Benefit Managers) and last our family’s Good Friday gift.

Pride month, every April it comes upon us. In 2024 Johnson County Commissioner Janee’ Hanzlick and Johnson County Chairman Mike Kelly were super star supporters of the drag queen show in Gardner, which was held, unbelievably, in the former Catholic Church on Center Steet. Chairman Kelly, promoting the Drag Queen show as appropriate for children, attended with his two children as memorialized by this photo posted on social media.

However, if you dare stand against the glorification of aberrant behavior, beware because you will be canceled. Only one side of the conversation seems to be protected by the First Amendment, while the other side is booted out and censored. So much for the WOKE/DEI movement being subdued, obviously Cancel Culture is alive and well. Just ask Jaden Ivey who was fired from the Chicago Bulls for voicing his Christian beliefs.

Next, as reported by LifeSiteNews, the Trump administration has reversed course and will now send $286 million in Title X funds to Planned Parenthood for 2026. It appears that we can launch Artemis to the Moon, we can bomb, bomb Iran, but we cannot stop our federal tax dollars from going to Planned Parenthood.

From LifeSiteNews, “Over 400,000 unborn children are killed by this corporation (Planned Parenthood) every year, making them the largest abortion chain in America,”… “The blood of these babies cries out. Taxpayer dollars should never fund the killing of innocent human beings.”

The excuse is that the Hyde Amendment prohibits federal dollars from funding abortions, the federal dollars received by Planned Parenthood goes to other costs and “healthcare” activities. The reality: dollars are fungible, therefore We the People are paying to kill babies. If we cannot protect the least among us, what does that say about us??

Ok, now to PBMs (Pharmacy Benefit Managers), of which the original purpose (in the 60s and 70s) was an accounting system to transition from prescription paper receipts to an automated system, submitting proof of payment to insurance companies in order for policy holders to receive reimbursement. Now it has morphed into a dark web of nefarious pricing practices which, with the collusion of big pharma and the insurance industry, has turned into a near monopoly and a mega profit center, costing the consumer (you and me) $billions.

With the emergence of AI, PBMs are hopelessly outdated, enmeshed in an enormous lack of transparency and have become a honey pot of profits for big pharma and insurance companies at our expense. The “big three” vertically integrated PBMs control, according to pharmacytimes.com, 75% of prescriptions in the U.S. market. They are CVS Health (Caremark), United-Health Group (OptumRx) and Cigna (Express Scripts).

Time to tame the beast with a return of the original intent: a seamless accounting management system of prescription costs from pharmacies to insurance companies and end the pricing shell game heist.

AND finally, our family’s receiving a Good Friday gift: early, early Good Friday morning (12:45 a.m.) our mare delivered this magnificent foal.  I need not expand on the description of this event; the photo tells the entire story.

God bless and as I tell the adolescents at the Olathe Juvenile Detention Center Tuesday afternoon Bible study, “Keep your eyes on Jesus.”

Charlotte O’Hara
Republican for Kansas Governor, 2026