Protection from abuse orders are as prone to abuse as anything else. But that does not mean they should be avoided when they could help save a life.

PFAs tend to get a bad rap because the public hears about them only when something has gone wrong.

Cases make headlines when an abused woman is killed even though she had a PFA order against her killer. Cases also make headlines, as they have recently in The Daily Item, when a complicated domestic case involves multiple and sometimes conflicting PFA requests.

The thousands of PFAs that actually work to stop abuse weigh almost nothing against the few PFAs that failed to stop a crime.

Yet hundreds of temporary PFAs are issued every year in the Central Susquehanna Valley.

As reported Thursday, most orders in the region are granted full status after a legal proceeding in which a judge hears both sides of the case.

The orders are like a legal "time out" from preschool days, except they are applied to adults and carry some very adult sanctions if they are violated.

The enforced break gives time for cooler heads to prevail.

At the least, the orders allow the abused and abusers to find a less-violent way out of a bad situation.

In the heat and confusion that can accompany domestic abuse, PFAs can provide everyone with enough space to do the right thing.

"It's a powerhouse of the law, no question," Northumberland County Judge Robert Sacavage said. "The design was to make it as a shield, and we see it occasionally used as a sword."

The shield is not perfect, and the sword is not always sharp, but PFAs -- with the full weight of the court behind them -- are better than beleaguered victims trying to make their way alone.