Sounding Off:

I have been a nurse for 32 years and an educator for 10. I have also done some traveling to both developed and developing countries, and studied the health systems and health status of many countries.

My conclusion is it is a travesty and a shame that the U.S. does not have universal access to health care, and that so many people in our country continue to suffer and die prematurely because of this lack of access. What I find most amazing is that the same people who are pro-life and so adamant about protecting the right of the unborn (which I share to a large degree) do not care one bit as to what happens to that child once it is born.

Doesn’t it seem incongruent to believe in a right to life but not to believe in a right to health? What kind of country are we that are comfortable with saying that the life and the health of certain people are not as important as that of others? What kind of people are we who believe it is more important to protect the right of insurance companies to make obscene profits than the rights of hard-working people to at least basic health care?

Can someone tell me that before I die, I will see the United States join the rest of the industrialized countries in protecting the health of its people?

MERCEDES GUIILIAUM lives in Irvine.