Letter: Focus on real tragedy - neglected children

Monday, March 20, 2006 | 7:11 a.m.

I have witnessed the debate on abortion in the Sun's letters to the editor section over the past week.

Obviously, we all have passionate views about a woman's choice to end a pregnancy. I take issue that our society rages over the debate of babies vs. fetuses when we have a child welfare system overflowing with neglected children. These are the children who "are our future," yet we ignore them as they are raised without adequate love, health care and self-worth.

If each of us looked at the front pages, we would see that Child Haven is over capacity, our county workers are overburdened with extraordinary caseloads, and the number of adults who are willing to be foster parents is insufficient. When these children reach the age of 18 years, they are then dumped out of child welfare into a world for which they are ill-prepared - grooming them for homelessness, prostitution, drug addiction and incarceration.

There are over 3,300 children in Nevada foster care who were removed from parents who abused or neglected them. Why are we arguing about babies vs. fetuses when we don't even take care of the children who are living? Let's have pro-choice and pro-life persons in our community do something that improves the lives of these kids.

Leigh Aurbach, Las Vegas

Editors note: The writer is a volunteer and serves on the board of the CASA Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the best interest of children in foster care. The views expressed are her own.