Demonstrations by AIDS Activists

This letter is in response to your front-page article regarding the AIDS fight in Los Angeles, and your editorial on the same day, “The Word They Use Is Scary “ (Dec. 31). You write as though AIDS is a medical problem appearing in a vacuum. It is not. It appears in a social situation in conjunction with the sexual revolution which has brought sexual freedom. This freedom, indulged in irresponsibly, has given us an increase in all venereal diseases despite the promise of the “wonder drugs.” It has also held hands with drug abuse and given us babies born with AIDS and addicted to drugs in the womb. In other words, we have lots of sexual freedom and not much responsibility. Consequently, our health-care systems are suffering from overload.

Human beings are given the opportunity and the burden of choice. Only in very recent times have great masses of humans been free to make individual and conscious choices. We haven’t yet learned to do that responsibly.

Is it our choice to close down prenatal health-care clinics due to lack of funds and at the same time open up new clinics and hospital wards for people who are HIV positive? Is it our choice to cut back on health care for children, the most neglected group in our society today, to care for adults who are terminally ill with AIDS? Is it our choice to prolong the life of HIV carriers for years with super-expensive drugs without letting their sexual partners know the mortal danger they are in? Terrible, gruesome choices, aren’t they? We could choose 100% preventive, curative and long-term maintenance health care for everyone. But the funding would have to come from cutbacks in other programs. Which ones?

The ultimate choice we have is to face the hard fact that any freedom brings increased responsibility. Our next step up the evolutionary ladder just may be to make thoses choices consciously and responsibly as free and informed individuals.

EUNICE FLEMING

Brawley