Abortion
Many unable to parent due to mental illnesses
Dear Editor:
This letter is in response to a letter by Sarah Glanz in the March 23 NEWS.
Ms. Glanz statements that lower school enrollment rates may be related to the number of abortions performed in this country appalled me.
I have worked as a social worker for more than 10 years, working with children in the foster care system. I have seen children beaten, battered, neglected and exploited. I have seen children remain in foster care for years and years because there are not enough families willing to adopt children with behavioral issues or those who may be “damaged” by their pasts. I have worked with parents who are so ill prepared and unable to parent that they have lost their rights to their children for good, due to issues with substance abuse, mental illness, violence and much more.
Without the right to choose, more and more children would end up within our foster care system.
How many more children should have to suffer because their parents are unable to provide them with love and care?
If a person makes the decision that they are not capable of parenting, it is their right.
I wish more of the parents that I have worked with had thought long and hard before they became pregnant to determine if they were capable of being parents.
Ms. Glanz stated that we should get back to basics in regards to education, “A nation founded under God.”
How about the basic of separating church and state?
How about the basic of religious freedom that this country was founded on?
Whose God would children be required to pray to in Ms. Glanz’s vision of our education system?
Our education system does need to be overhauled, we can all agree upon that.
How about starting with adequate funding for things like books, supplies and teacher education?
You want scapegoats, how about our past administration and the No Child Left Behind Act?
Aisha Houghton Camano Island
