The opponents of the reform propositions are cleverly conducting an IQ test on the voting public. A letter in the Orange County Register ("Oppose Prop. 73: Student safety is at stake," Letters 10/25) is an example. The writer, a school nurse, states that in 15 years as a school nurse, she has never known of a school nurse who helped a student obtain an abortion without parental knowledge. Why, then, is she opposed to the proposition? It's not a problem!

I spent eight years on the medical association's legislative commission, and I am personally pro-choice. The medical associations always oppose limits on abortion because they fear that doctors will be required to enforce them. In this case, however, the opponents wildly overstate the concerns, and the rare incest victim has the option of a judge assuming guardianship. Parents have enough trouble supervising their children without the school nurses doing God-knows-what without their knowledge. These matters are simply common sense. Parents need help, not another law weakening their parental rights.

Support Prop. 73 and the other reforms. Pass the IQ test.

Michael T. Kennedy, M.D.
Past President, OCMA
Mission Viejo