I am deeply offended by Frank Shires’ political cartoon in the Feb. 4 Auburn Reporter depicting a white, poor, pregnant woman not getting care at King County Public Health and implying that ONLY if you are a minority do you get the care.

What an outrageous commentary and false. I am not sure what this has to do with any current news except to miss the REAL issue of the dire state cuts that are seriously impacting Public Health and especially the Maternity Support Services with staff positions and critical support services that are no longer available for mothers, affecting thousands of people’s lives.

MSS serves low-income pregnant women and their infants to “ensure the best health outcomes possible”. “The MSS cuts will cut more than $23 million from Public Health-Seattle and King County in 2011. These cuts are on top of 2009-2011 reductions totaling $32.9 million and 344 staff positions.” (State Budget cuts hit King County Public Health Maternity Support Services, PNW Local News, Jan. 13).

These cuts are devastating and in many cases risk the populations they serve, and it doesn’t matter what the color of their skin is!

I am sad this community and your paper would encourage this discriminatory cartoon to be acceptable.

Shouldn’t we be more concerned with the larger picture as a society and community of King County and ask ourselves how do we NOW serve these higher risk mothers and provide the care they desperately need, be they Native American, black, Hispanic or white? in light of all these cuts, what about some common obligation and solutions on how to help at-risk moms to improve birth outcomes and give their babies a healthy start?

The need remains, it is real.

– Pat Curran