HOLLAND VALUES LIFE

Normally I ignore the simpleminded rantings of Cal Thomas, but, having some
familiarity with the Netherlands, I read his column, "Dutch lead
devaluation of humanity," Viewpoints, April 23. Cal is unhappy with the
Dutch parliament's recent approval of a euthanasia law and bemoans a
society "sliding toward perdition," one that no longer values human life.

For the record, Holland has a lower infant mortality rate than ours, a
higher life expectancy and a higher rate of adult literacy. If Cal were to
walk the streets of any Dutch city, which he could do at any hour without
fear of violence, he would find no ghettos, no poverty, no people on street
corners begging for food or money.

Valuing human life, indeed. We Americans value human life so much that we
allow 13 percent of our population to live in poverty, some of it utterly
abject. We allow almost a quarter of all children to go without adequate
food, education and health care. Americans murder about 40,000 of their
fellow citizens every year, a rate the Dutch, among others, find appalling.

Valuing human life means valuing human life.

George Palmer
Dallas