As Anthony Wilson learned [“The Victims of Victims,” October 1] those who cannot control their anger will find control imposed on them by the law. Those who have problems controlling their inclinations toward alcohol or gambling or drugs can go any day to meetings for free, of AA or GA or NA, but those making Natalia’s plea [for a tubal ligation], if of meager means, will find nothing, due to the extreme right-wingers pulling Republican strings.
Since it would appear DCFS can only help those children already born from becoming new or repeat victims, is this one of those things that’s nobody’s baby–i.e., no one’s responsibility?
Those leaning toward voting for Bush, if they feel anything for the Semajes of the world, would do well to remember him as an-other casualty of Reagan-era rulings which cut the legs out from under the country’s mentally ill. Dubya, the “compassionate conservative,” would prolong and magnify the agony for every soul in similar situations; they will continue having babies amid turmoil until someone says, to men and women, “If you have your tubes tied your sentence will be reduced. And the government will pay for your procedure.”
Maja Ramirez
Chicago Police Officer