editorial
Still a chance for
abortion funding
The Oregon Legislature s Emergency Board voted
Friday to fellow the lead of the federal government in not
paying for welfare abortions unless the pregnancy occur
red because of rape or incest, or unless the mother s life is
endangered.
The federal government is denying the use of welfare
money for abortions, leaving the issue in the hands of the
states. This state has responded by rejecting a proposal to
fund the abortions with emergency fund money.
In addition, the Emergency Board rejected a com
promise proposal to allow the funding of abortions for
women who are on welfare at the time of conception. It
seems that the Emergency Board is tagging along with the
fed in refusing to recognize the injustice of allowing abor
tions for all but the poor.
There is a chance tnat the Department of Human
Resources, the agency requesting the abortion funding,
will bring the issue back to the Emergency Board at its Feb.
23 meeting for reconsideration. At that time, the
Emergency Board may be able to change its stand and
allow abortions for the poor.
The case for welfare abortions has been made. The
poor, saddled with expenses that eat up a large percen
tage of their income — if they have an income at ail — may
have to resort to the coat-hanger abortions so common
before welfare abortions became available. An abortion in
Eugene now costs about $250 — far out of reach of the
poor.
It is a woman’s right to control her life. An unwanted
birth may affect the course of a woman's life irreparably.
Birth control devices are not always completely effective,
nor ar e they completely safe. Rich women can call back the
mistake under safe conditions. Without welfare money, the
poor will be relegated to unsafe practices — the public
health ramifications of which the federal and the state
governments have so far ignored.
If both rich and poor must eat to live, but the poor can't
afford it, the government steps in to pick up the tab for the
poor to ensure that no one suffers. And so it should be. But
with other legal actions, such as iegal abortions, the gover
nment has created a double standard so obvious and vile
that it brings the justice of our economic and political sys
tem under question.
The Supreme Court has ruled that abortion is legal
during the first three months of pregnancy. A woman can
have an abortion if she wants one, but only if she can pay
the price. The federal decision to disallow welfare abor
tions creates yet another division between rich and poor in
America. The rights allowed to the rich are denied the poor
because the government refuses to create equality bet
ween the classes.
The “let them eat cake’’ attitude adopted by the fed
eral government and the state’s Emergency board cannot
continue The Emergency Board should recognize human
rights by reversing its stand. Oregon should recognize the
rights of its women and its poor: the abortion funding must
be given.
Dear protester...
It is presumptuous for you to
assume that I don't hold ideas,
because I don’t hold your ideas. It
is vile. I do not march for divest
ment, or for liberation in South Af
rica. I do not march for “Stop the
stalling, dump the stocks now. I
do not march for the apartheid
form of government in South Af
rica. I do march for myself;
whenever and wherever my own
interests are at issue. I am proud
of that.
You cannot successfully demur
a Mack truck that runs a red light
when you have the walk sign, by
stepping in its path. You cannot
sucessfully protest a differing
value by vehemently maintaining
yours. (Spitting in your opponents
face does not help either.) I wait
— Letters
on the curb for the truck to pass. I
end the discussion. I will not pre
sume you do the same.
Instead, I will offer a solution to
your ultimatum with which you can
test not only the validity of your
opposition to U.S. investments in
South Africa, but also the validity
of your moral convictions. I will not
presume you have those.
There would be no University
without students. If instead of
marching you leave the Univer
sity, protesting by refusing to at
tend and pay tuition, then your
problem would be resolved.
In effect, you would no longer
be supporting the “vicious' apar
theid system in South Africa. Lis
ten. You would no longer be sup
porting the apartheid form of gov
ernment in South Africa. And if.
indeed, your desires are reasona
ble, then obviously, all students
would follow. The University could
not function as such without your
tuition. The result? There would
be no University investment in
U S. corporations operating in
South Africa. There would be no
University.
There is only one form of ra
tional protest: Individual voice; in
dividual choice. Choose. If yours
is the wrong choice then beware
of Mack trucks running red lights.
And please, chant a little quieter
when I'm studying, and you're
parading in the EMU.
David Greene
Sophomore, Economics
-analyst* —
Sadat has three-fold purpose
By NICOLAS B. TATRO
Associated Press Writer
CAIRO, Egypt — President
Anwar Sadat's upcoming trip to
the United States appears to have
a three-fold purpose: to ask U S.
leaders to put political pressure on
Israel, lobby Congress for arms
aid and sell his negotiating posi
tion to the American public.
Sadat is scheduled to huddle
with President Carter in the sec
luded surroundings of Camp
David, Md., Saturday and Sunday
for discussions on the current
status of Middle East peace
negotiations. He also plans meet
ings with key members of Con
gress and the media.
Egyptian diplomats, legislators
and newspapers are calling for a
change in what they see as
America’s “blind support" of Israel
militarily and its unwillingness to
alienate a long-time political ally.
‘The trip would be a real suc
cess should we succeed in chang
ing the U.S. position,’’ said a Sun
day editorial in Al Gomhouria, one
of Cairo’s three leading daily
newspapers.
“We do not ask the Ameri
cans to take sides with us but we
want a frank answer to this ques
tion: is the U.S. ready to defend
Israel within its borders or is it
ready to defend its expansions as
well?"
In a joint statement Saturday,
the Egyptian parliament's national
security and foreign relations
committees called for "more deci
sive and effective" U.S. pressure
on the Israelis. One senior Egyp
tian diplomat has accused the
Carter administration of being
"very weak" and even "gutless"
when it came to using its muscle
on Israel.
The two committees also criti
cized U.S. arms sales to Israel on
grounds they provoke Israeli in
transigence at the negotiating
table.
Sadat made it dear in a speech
to the Egyptian parliament on Jan.
21 he is seeking arms parity with
Israel. Unable to purchase Soviet
weapons because of a diplomatic
squabble in 1972 and limited to
buying nonlethal armaments from
the United States, Sadat said he
has asked Carter "to arm Egypt
with all the weapons Israel has.”
The Egyptian president argues
he needs modern arms not to at
tack Israel but to thwart Soviet
ambitions throughout Africa, par
ticularly because of Russian sup
port for Ethiopia in its conflict with
Moslem Somali.
Sadat hopes to put pressure on
Israel through a public relations
campaign during his U S visit
Using television interviews and
news conferences, Egyptian
sources said, Sadat hopes to con
vince the American public that Is
rael is to blame for the stalled
peace talks.
Egypt also will seek support
from several European nations
when Sadat meets with heads of
state from Britain, West Germany,
Austria, Romania and France dur
ing stops on his way home from
Washington.
But Sadat continues to lack
support from most of his Arab
brethem.
As for more concrete develop
ments arising from Sadat's trip.
Foreign Minister Mohamed Ib
rahim Kamel has said not to ex
pect Carter and Sadat to finalize
any delcaration of Mideast peace
principles because of the big
gap" now separating Israeli and
Egyptian positions.
Kamel s statement was aimed
at reducing expectations raised by
reports from Washington and Is
rael that an agreement was close
at hand.
CXO NOPAL 3SOUUPS.
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