They are ours

To the editor -- The Yakima Herald-Republic on June 18 reports the lack of outrage over the gang violence in Yakima. I feel part of that is our stunned inertia -- What's to be done? Beefing up police patrols and the juvenile court system is certainly important to a safer community. It's also the proverbial Band-Aid on the spurting artery -- too little, too late.

Every gangbanger with dead eyes started out as a small, impressionable child. What are we as a community doing for our children? They're not just "theirs." They are also ours, and none of them is disposable.

We have the opportunity to invest in a water park which, in addition to bringing substantial revenue here, would also be a great gift to our kids; it would give them something healthy and constructive to do in their unsuper-
vised down time. We can demand and then support programs, such as the Nurse-Family Partnership, that have evidence-based results demonstrating (1) improved lives for young families and their children, and (2) substantial tax savings over time.

We can quote the Holy Bible until our printers run out of ink. It's meaningless if we don't practice the compassion Christ taught. A universal truth: People who are brutalized become brutal. We see it in Baghdad, Bethlehem and Belfast. We don't have to see it in Yakima.

MARY MORPHET-BROWN

Yakima

Legal doesn't mean right

To the editor -- I believe abortion is the most compelling and far-reaching civil rights issue of our time.

You hear many people say abortion is OK because it's legal, but does that make it right? Remember, at one time slavery was also legal.

As a pro-lifer, I certainly offer full support for President Obama's frequent statement that reducing abortions should be a priority. But how he expects to do that by funding overseas agencies that promote abortion with our tax money is more than a mystery to me. I'm also in favor of working with the president on any measure that supports women in crises pregnancy centers (an area in which pro-lifers already have special expertise) and other legislation that protects the unborn child.

I firmly believe that if our country and its leaders keep ignoring the rights of the unborn, then very soon we are going to be a nation of the past.

FRANK A. SCHNEIDER

Yakima

Red Cross clarification

To the editor -- Re: The June 18 letter about Elizabeth Carroll, retiring as director of the Yakima Red Cross. Just to clarify, the Yakima Valley chapter of the American Red Cross is a member of the American Red Cross, not the International Red Cross. The funds that the American Red Cross uses are donated dollars, not tax money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The only time we accept FEMA dollars is if we are doing a service for FEMA.

NORMA THOMPSON

Yakima