Tax Credit for Children

The National Commission on Children recommended that families be awarded a $1,000 tax credit for each child, and also that single parents be guaranteed a government-paid benefit when absent spouses fail to pay child support.

In May, the Supreme Court upheld a rule that federally funded family planning clinics may not give any advice or information about abortions.

What is happening here? It appears that we are not only encouraging women to have babies, which they can ill-afford to nourish or educate, we are telling them not to worry. The government will pay the bills.

Although I am strongly in favor of helping the children who are now existing in poverty, I am very much opposed to offering tax credits for children who have yet to be born. It would make far more sense to limit not only tax credits but tax exemptions as well to two children per family. Naturally, this would not apply to existing families but only to children born after a specified date.

Overpopulation must be controlled. Unless this problem is addressed now, the future of this country will be in serious jeopardy--both economically and ecologically. The “gag rule” on abortions must be lifted and the bipartisan commission must find a way to reduce the deplorable suffering of poor children without increasing their number.

POLLY S. BROWDER, La Jolla