Quantity vs. quality of life

Re “Giuliani’s foes see abortion as chink in armor,” May 9

I am a Republican and a long-standing supporter of Planned Parenthood. For more than 90 years, Planned Parenthood has helped women and families prevent unintended pregnancy and plan strong, healthy families. While safe abortion care is an important service, it’s a small fraction of Planned Parenthood’s work; 97% of its nationwide services are focused on prevention, helping clients to plan and space pregnancies and prevent sexually transmitted infections.

Candidates and policymakers should join Planned Parenthood in getting to the root of the problem by focusing on the prevention of unintended pregnancies through comprehensive sex education for teens and affordable, accessible birth control. That is an agenda that many of my fellow Republicans share with me -- and that any sensible presidential candidate should support.

NANCY SANDERS

Los Angeles

The writer is a board member of Planned Parenthood Los Angeles.

*

The conservative “culture of life” is such a fraud. It’s about quantity of life rather than quality.

Why this lunacy? Well, it builds power. Quantity of life is easily measured, so uncritical thinkers empower leaders who preach quantity. Quality of life, however, requires people to look out for the long-term interests of their neighbors and communities, which takes a lot of creative thinking and experimenting -- and we can’t have the masses doing that. Better to keep them busy breaking their backs to support too-large families and fighting each other in wars for overstretched resources.

DAVID MEADOW

Los Angeles