With cruel, deft strokes Gov. George Deukmejian has signed off on a policy of punishing poor women that exemplifies his lack of compassion, sensitivity to human rights, common sense and logic (Part A, Oct. 31).
As the family planning clinics targeted for closure begin diverting patients to alternate facilities that are even more crowded and less accessible, the quality of fundamental health-care services provided to needy women will decline dramatically, resulting particularly in increased numbers of unwanted pregnancies, incidences of sexually transmitted diseases and cancer. The health-care professionals have provided the numbers; the reality of the closures is about to be felt throughout Los Angeles County, yet Deukmejian insists on ignoring the facts and supporting his "only slightly" misguided notion that should a program not report a 100% effective rate for one aspect of its function, it therefore does not merit continued funding. To extrapolate his theory, why should we bother with public health care at all; people still get sick.
