Family Planning

Your article "Ugly Payoff for Penny-Pinching" (Dec.3) described a perfect example of why our country has so many problems. Our leaders seem to spend more time trying to put the blame on others than they do trying to correct the problems. They almost always manage to cut funds in the wrong places at the wrong times. How could they not see the consequences of removing two-thirds of the funding for essential family-planning clinics? I believe everyone would benefit if instead of debating whether or not abortions should be allowed, we put our efforts into preventing them.

If her birth control pills are covered, why aren't my vitamins? That's the point reader Robert Filacchione of Fullerton raised in objection to The Times' editorial Sunday supporting President Obama's proposal that all healthcare plans, including those affiliated with religious organizations, provide access to contraception with no co-payment or deductible. Filacchione wrote: "You say this latest act will preempt potentially serious medical problems. I am a fit, healthy man. I work at it by eating right and running 35 to 40 miles each week.

Re "The other war in Afghanistan," Opinion, Aug. 23, and "A Taliban victory?" Opinion, Aug. 25 In our great effort to demonize Iran, we ignore its state-run family planning, which is one of most progressive and effective in the world. Because a great portion of Afghanistan is linguistically and religiously an extension of Iran, could we invite them to teach family planning to Afghanistan's women? It could be more effective than dropping bombs and be more acceptable to the local Muslim population.

Parking priorities Re "A peculiar parking pattern," Column, Jan. 25 My husband and I know a number of people who have kept their disabled placards long after they needed them. One such man we know plays tennis. About six years ago, my husband had a serious foot injury. During that time we realized how difficult it was to find disabled parking spaces. Were all those disabled parking places being used by people who truly needed them? My husband is a retired physician, and patients would sometimes ask him for placards that they didn't need.

The Obama administration's willingness to defend insurance coverage for family planning services against attacks from conservatives and religious groups is good news for women and for the health of the nation. Last year, the administration first proposed that, like other preventive medical goods and services, contraception and general family planning coverage should be available under the healthcare reform law without a co-payment or deductible. Not just churches but many of their affiliated organizations protested — with the backing of conservative Republicans — that they should not have to pay to provide insurance coverage for medical services that run counter to their beliefs.

Gov. George Deukmejian's deletion of $24.1 million from the budget for family planning, the deepest cut allowed by law, will mean personal emergencies for many who rely on such services. Overriding a veto always is difficult these days but unless that happens, 35 private, nonprofit family planning clinics may close in Los Angeles alone.

The Obama administration's willingness to defend insurance coverage for family planning services against attacks from conservatives and religious groups is good news for women and for the health of the nation. Last year, the administration first proposed that, like other preventive medical goods and services, contraception and general family planning coverage should be available under the healthcare reform law without a co-payment or deductible. Not just churches but many of their affiliated organizations protested — with the backing of conservative Republicans — that they should not have to pay to provide insurance coverage for medical services that run counter to their beliefs.

It took only a dozen years for humanity to add another billion people to the planet, reaching the milestone of 7 billion Monday — give or take a few months. Demographers at the United Nations Population Division set Oct. 31, 2011, as the "symbolic" date for hitting 7 billion, while acknowledging that it's impossible to know for sure the specific time or day. Using slightly different calculations, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates the 7-billion threshold will not be reached until March.

Think back on what you talked about with friends and family at your last gathering. The latest game of your favorite team? "American Idol"? An addictive hobby? The new movie blockbuster? In a serious moment, maybe job prospects, Afghanistan, the economic mess? We live in an information-drenched environment, one in which sports and favorite programs are just a click away. And the ease with which we can do this allows us to focus on mostly comforting subjects that divert our attention from increasingly real, long-term problems.

A jury in Arizona convicted a bestselling author and self-help guru Wednesday in the deaths of three clients during a sweat lodge ceremony in 2009 that was intended to help participants overcome adversity to reach their full potential. After hearing four months of testimony, the eight-man, four-woman jury deliberated for fewer than 12 hours before finding James Arthur Ray guilty of three counts of negligent homicide. The panel acquitted Ray of the more serious charges of manslaughter.

It's getting crowded out there. According to an updated report from the United Nations, the planet's population is not following the expected curve: topping out at about 9 billion mid-century and then leveling off. Instead, the demographic trends point to continued growth, bringing the worldwide population to 10.1 billion by the end of the century - nearly a 50% increase for a planet now inhabited by just under 7 billion. The highest rates of growth will be concentrated in poverty-stricken countries with low education levels, especially those in Africa, where the population is expected to more than triple to 3.5 billion.

Standing in front of TV cameras at a Hesperia gas station Monday, the distraught mother of a missing teenager made an urgent plea. "If you are holding my daughter, please let her go," Melissa Bender said. "Please, I beg you to let my daughter go. She's just 13 years old. " Jessie Marie Bender had been missing a week. Her mother told authorities she feared the girl had run away with a Chicago man she met on Facebook. Following the family's initial report, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department launched a massive search in the High Desert town for the girl, bringing in agents from the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Chicago police.

Will man survive? Re "Patt Morrison Asks: Saving Earth," Opinion, Feb. 12 Patt Morrison did a good Q&A with Paul R. Ehrlich. I still have my original copy of his 1968 book, "The Population Bomb. " However, the article has a misleading title. The crisis we are facing does not involve saving the Earth or even saving the environment. Both will survive with or without our intervention. Rather, the title should have been, "Saving humans. " No matter what we do, the Earth and its environment will go on, much in the way that the Earth survived when the dinosaurs did not. Perhaps we are only a placeholder ?

Balancing the books Re "Obama sets stage for budget battle," Feb. 15 To say this administration spends money like a drunken sailor is unfair to sailors. The proposed $3.7-trillion budget has a deficit of $1.1 trillion. For the mathematically challenged, nearly 30% of the money the Obama administration proposes to spend is borrowed. How can the president call that kind of spending a tough choice? Where are those who said that George W. Bush's $400-billion or $500-billion deficits were wrecking the economy?