'IDS' needs to get off high horse

I write this letter in opposition to the Jan. 26 staff editorial "Bush policy hurts international clinics," the IDS editorial board's collective (though not unanimous) decision that George W. Bush's policy of "taking away money from programs simply because they include abortion as a family planning option is wrong." \nOh really, according to whose standards? The IDS'? From my readings of many of your columns (with the exception of Chris Edwards and a select few who have periodically spoken out against this evil), the editorial board has neither the inclination nor the warrant to pronounce such judgments as "right" or "wrong," especially by pronouncing the family planning agencies as secular saviors simply because of "high populations and lack of food." \nIf these family planning agencies had been advocating abstinence (as this column later states), then there would be no need to pay for the abortions this money was directly funding. I do not want the tax dollars I pay to support the slaughter of children too innocent to bellow out the word "No!" as their brains are being suctioned through some vacuum. \nWhat bothers me most about this editorial is that there was no dissent below it, especially since this particular staff vote had been, in fact, opposed. Was it because none of the opponents had the heart to speak out against the evil that the majority of the staff members were advocating? Get off your high horse, IDS. As far as I'm concerned, most of you are a bunch of whiny yes-men and women playing journalist in daddy's closet.