"'This letter is a reply to the letter from George Loper of Planned Parenthood published in the Aug. 9, 2000 issue of The Observer. Mr. Loper asserts, "if The Observer wishes to be truly 'community-oriented,' it has to allow involvement by all members of the community including Planned Parenthood." Well plainly The Observer does in fact allow "involvement" by Planned Parenthood - after all, The Observer published Mr. Loper's letter. However, Mr. Loper's complaint concerns the fact that The Observer printed a pro-life ad yet refuses advertising by Planned Parenthood.

This is a quite different assertion than simply saying that The Observer should "allow involvement." Would Mr. Loper maintain that, in order to be "community oriented," The Observer should accept ads from any group whatsoever? In other words that the editor should have no say at all in what ads to accept. Suppose the Ku Klux Klan or the American Nazi Party wishes to take out an ad? What then? Would Mr. Loper still hold that The Observer must accept such ads? I am fairly sure that Mr. Loper would object to comparing Planned Parenthood with the Klan - or the Nazis, but that is just the point. Many in the pro-life movement regard abortion with the same horror as they regard the Klan or the Nazis.

My opinion is that being "community oriented" does not require The Observer to accept ads which espouse views which the editor strongly disagrees with. I am very sure that Planned Parenthood will have no problem putting their ads in virtually any other publication in this area. The bottom line is that The Observer is a privately owned business and as such has every right to refuse ads whenever they choose.

-Eugene Scott, Earlysville."'

(Taken from pages 8 & 16 of The Observer, August 23, 2000).