It's interesting to contrast two editorial opinions that appeared in the Tuesday, Oct.12, edition of the Deseret News. One, written by the Deseret News editorial staff, was thoughtful and thought-provoking, stating that the world reaching a population of 6 billion was more a reason to celebrate than to panic.
That the world has reached this point is testament to the success of what the article termed "the war on ignorance and disease." Because of technology, education and healthier lifestyles, the human race's life expectancy is rising at an unprecedented rate. The problem is not, according to the opinion, that we are "procreating more than ever."Then there was the article written by Planned Parenthood's Karrie Galloway. Ms. Galloway referred to hot-button issues like the millennium bug (she called this population mark "Y6B" of all things), crowded classrooms and traffic congestion in what I can only assume is an effort to stir up the populace to believe the sky is falling.
Here's some news, Ms. Galloway: traffic congestion and crowded classrooms will not be alleviated by better family planning. If the world's population would have held steady at 5 billion or even dropped to 4 billion, we would still have the same problems. And you're assuming that the children we Utahns are having are by and large unplanned or unwanted. You're wrong.
Many, including Ms. Galloway, would have us believe that the more children we have, the more problems we have. While there are challenges we must face concerning population growth within this state, there are answers for every challenge. The truth is that human beings are assets, not liabilities.
Don Seamons
Layton