Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Where I Stand: Life Line not a political game

A CONGRESSMAN writes a letter suggesting a local counseling group receive some of the Clark County Community Development Block Grant monies made available by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

I read the letter sent to the Clark County commissioners by Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., and found it supportive of Life Line. There were no implied threats in the three-page missive and no recommendations that the badly needed dollars be taken from some other worthwhile project. Certainly, there are plenty of worthy projects where the dollars are needed, and Life Line is but one of them.

So the letter was read by the commissioners, and they then went about their business of distributing $4.46 million as was recommended by the Community Development Advisory Committee. Well, that's not quite what happened. A couple of Democratic commissioners, Erin Kenny and Yvonne Atkinson Gates, squealed to high heaven, saying the Republican congressman was pressuring them. So they read something in the letter that didn't reveal itself to me. This is the first time they have been pressured since entering public office?

Following the squealing from the county offices, the voices of pro-abortion activists were added to the melee. Now, in addition to being accused of "pressuring" other officeholders, the congressman was attacked because one of his staff members sits as a nonpaid board member of the nonprofit Life Line program.

No, Ruth McGroarty, who founded Life Line, hasn't been picketing any of the local abortion mills nor has she threatened to blow up any. She did play an unsuccessful role in fighting the ballot question that gives women the choice of abortion and was a leader and very active in other right-to-life groups. Actually, for the past several years, McGroarty has quietly been struggling to keep Life Line alive and serving the people who need help. Several local citizens, like Sonia Joya of Ensign's staff, have recognized the work of Life Line and have given a helping hand.

By now, you probably wonder what Life Line's role has been in the state which leads the nation in per-capita teenage births. It's obvious they don't recommend abortions, but, certainly, they must be doing something to get such a vocal response from those who do favor abortions.

Records tell us that Life Line is running a number of badly needed programs and, when asked about them, they eagerly pointed to several confidential and free services that have served thousands of clients over the years. For example, they told me:

"In 1991, we began our vocational training program, offering GED and computer training along with a life skills component.

"In 1993, we opened our on-site daycare for the babies of our students.

"In 1995, we began our First Time Fathers program.

"In 1995, we also began offering ESL (English as a second language) on site (currently 43 students speaking eight different languages).

"March of this year, we began classes for our 14-, 15- and 16-year-old pregnant and parenting population in partnership with Horizon Schools. (Life Line receives no compensation for this partnership and, in addition, the students in this program utilize all the Life Line services at no cost to the school district or the students.)

"In addition to these programs, Life Line continues to volunteer our services in the community. We now give workshops twice a month at the Clark County Detention Center addressing issues such as self-esteem, parenting issues and resource referrals. Life Line has opened our doors to the inmates upon their release. At this time, we are anticipating a whole new population with a new set of issues to embark upon the agency. Although we don't have the money for this new endeavor, this population as our existing population needs our services.

"Life Line continues to work closely with all local agencies in what we perceive as a collaborative effort to address teen pregnancy, an epidemic, a social ill that is part of our mission.

"Life Line's mission is to improve the quality of life in Southern Nevada by increasing options for pregnant and parenting residents (with emphasis on teens/adolescents) concerning employment and socially responsible activities, by strengthening values and impacting on community norms, by reducing the impact of teen/adolescent pregnancy by ensuring that needed services are available and funded for Southern Nevada residents."

You can then add these services to the basics of a 24-hour hotline (477-6435), adoption referrals, pregnancy tests, free diapers and baby food, substance abuse prevention, health and wellness programs, low-cost medical referrals, housing services, religious counseling referrals (upon request), etc.

Life Line is doing what all of us should be doing, and the operation is saving our community big headaches and even more shame than our spreading social problems are bringing us.

The pro-abortion and anti-abortion groups will continue to have their political wars, and Democrats and Republicans will continue to have their own brand of petty political fights. In the meantime, all of them should back off and let Ruth McGroarty and Life Line do a job that benefits the most vulnerable of our community.

Even better would be for them to give Life Line a helping hand.

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