This is in response to Joseph Nielsen Crook's June 13 letter ["Abortion is destroying the future of America"].

Mr. Crook writes, "Fifty million dead babies are too many. In their ranks would be congressmen, senators, possibly a president."

Just one example of this is the late Steve Jobs, the creator of the Apple computer technology that changed the world, and who was adopted. What if his unmarried birth mother had chosen abortion over adoption?

The abortion issue is near to us as my wife, after World War II, was adopted sight-unseen by an American family, from an orphanage at a refugee camp in Germany.

From her genealogical research, she found that she was placed in that orphanage by a court because she was unwanted by her parents.

In today's "right-to-choose society," she probably would have been aborted. She has been such a blessing to me (and our children and grandchildren) for more than 41 years now.

No one can know how many lives may be touched by one baby who's allowed to live.

One final point is the financial consequences of abortion. Everyone is concerned about our Social Security system going broke.

Look at population numbers since Social Security began (the numbers paying into the system versus the numbers receiving/taking out).

Could it possibly be that, since 1972, there are now more than 50 million fewer Americans paying into that system?

Jack Ruther

Orange