Dear Editor,

Mother love has limits. Mammalian mothers frequently abandon their young when adversity threatens the mother’s survival. We are beginning to acknowledge this instinct in humans, permitting troubled mothers to abandon unwanted infants at hospitals without any worry of prosecution.

The U.K.’s chief scientist, Sir David King, stated at an official inquiry, “It is self-evident that massive growth in human population through the 20th century has had more impact on biodiversity than any other single factor.”

China’s draconian “one-child policy” is justified, especially given the great size of China’s illiterate population when the policy was initiated.

Placing all my impressions in the balance, I conclude that easy access to elective abortion will be necessary to avoid severe environmental degradation from overpopulation. There will be many incidental effects. Fortunately, many — if not almost all — of these effects will be surprisingly beneficial.

We can look back on the days when our nation was a land of beauty and abundance, but that is not true today.

The scary thing is that today’s soaring fuel prices, high food costs, economic turmoil and environmental challenges pale in comparison to the problems we will face 30 or 40 years from now if we continue to allow our population to grow.

Larry Jones
Arcata