Saving Children

The commentary “We Could Give the Gift of Life This Christmas” (Op-Ed Page, Dec. 24) outraged and dismayed me. To allow 40,000 children to needlessly die daily is literally beyond belief! But even if we do not respond to this unnecessary condition on humane grounds, it well behooves us to look at it from a selfish stance.

High child death rates mean high birth rates; the poverty which promotes these death rates forces millions to over-exploit their surroundings just to survive; poverty provokes instability and violence; poverty perpetuates itself. It sows the seeds of social problems. We feel the results of all of this in our own country. So for either selfish or unselfish reasons, we must realize that children are indeed dying for us to learn this.

BARBARA URSCHEL

Mission Viejo