Demonstrations by Operation Rescue

“700 Abortion Foes Arrested at L.A. Clinic” scream the headline. All that misguided energy and passion--and for what?--to deny women the right of choice.

How many of these protesters have adopted an “unadoptable” child who was unwanted or abused after birth; helped teach learning-disabled children in an inner-city school who were born drug-dependent or have other problems that none of us can begin to know; or even more to the heart of the problem, written or lobbied Sacramento to protest the imminent closing of family planning and health care clinics here in California due to budget cuts, cuts which, among other consequences, will serve to increase the number of unwanted pregnancies?

Here in the United States we have the highest infant mortality rate of any industrialized country. Are these protesters also working for better prenatal health care and are they willing to pay for this care through higher taxes?

After the demonstrations are over, the protesters will leave Los Angeles and return home, self-righteous and energized by their actions. Meanwhile, the aftermath of their symbolic efforts, the unwanted children, children who should be our nation’s brightest hope, are left behind.

NATALIE ROESCH

Huntington Beach