Birth Control

It was painful to read our stories Sunday about two abused teenagers who died after spending years bouncing around Los Angeles County's child welfare system. Times reporters Garrett Therolf and Kim Christensen chronicled the tumultuous lives of Miguel Padilla, who hanged himself at 17, and Lazhanae Harris, a 13-year-old girl found stabbed to death last spring. The stories spotlighted ineptitude in a system charged with keeping children safe. But one passage stopped me cold, and left me angry not just at a system's failures, but also at the frailties of a family: Lazhanae was the third of nine children of 33-year-old Shamana Johnson, a single mother who had served time in prison and had a history of substance abuse.

Re "Tough problem, tough tactic," Column, Oct. 17 I want to thank Sandy Banks for her column in support of birth-control education for women who are addicted to drugs and whose children end up being "parceled out like puppies." I'm a registered nurse and know the potential consequences for these children when a mother has been addicted to drugs or alcohol and/or has not received prenatal care. I have great respect for Barbara Harris, the foster mother who stepped in and initiated payments to addicted women if they would agree to use birth control.

Planned Parenthood: An article in Saturday's California section on a whistle-blower lawsuit alleging that Planned Parenthood affiliates in California overbilled the government for birth-control pills identified Hannah-Beth Jackson as a former state senator. She is a former state assemblywoman.

Re "Why don't you all f-fade away?," Opinion, May 25 I turn 60 this year. I had a wonderful time when I was younger, but I don't pine for Woodstock, nor for my few years of commune life, nor for the pot plants I tried to sneakily grow on a back porch. I do not celebrate silly memorials like Jim Morrison's death. He was just a singer. I never thought my generation was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Only the media said that. I know our sheer numbers fascinated people following World War II. We did influence things during that economic boom.

The 82nd annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade wound its way through Manhattan streets under sunny skies as thousands of marchers carried giant balloons past throngs of holiday revelers. New this year were Buzz Lightyear, the square-jawed, action-figure astronaut from the 1995 film "Toy Story"; Horton, the compassionate elephant of Dr. Seuss books; and a five-story Smurf, from the popular children's TV show that began in 1981.

At Planned Parenthood of Indiana, 'tis the season of giving healthcare and contraception. The network of 35 clinics across the state announced it is offering holiday vouchers for basic healthcare services, "the recipient's choice of birth control method" and abortions. The gift certificates can be purchased in increments of $25 online or for any dollar amount at some Planned Parenthood of Indiana health centers. Opponents of abortion and artificial birth control, however, said the gesture denigrated the holiday season.

Afraid that a population explosion among squirrels in a city park could pose a public health risk, Santa Monica officials are ready to try a proven method of dealing with the problem: birth control shots. Plans call for squirrels in Palisades Park to be injected with an immuno-contraceptive vaccine to stunt sexual development. Breeding season runs from February to April, but the inoculations will take place this summer when the squirrels are most active outdoors and easier to trap.

During a recent family planning drive, villagers say, officials chased people down the streets and into the fields of a southern province searching for violators of China's one-child policy. Men and women were rounded up for forced sterilizations, the villagers reported. Expectant mothers are said to have faced mandatory abortions. "I know a young woman who was six or seven months pregnant with twins," said a woman villager interviewed by phone who was only willing to give her surname, Wang.

The House, seeking to reverse a linchpin of Bush administration policy, voted Thursday to give aid to overseas groups that provide contraceptive devices such as condoms and birth control pills. An effort by Republican Reps. Christopher Smith of New Jersey and Bart Stupak of Michigan to kill the measure was defeated on a largely party-line vote. The provision was attached to the $34.2-billion foreign aid appropriations bill for 2008, which the House approved, 241 to 178.