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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 1978)
Panel calls for state-funded abortions By JENNIFER GREENLEAF Of the Emerald If Ballot Measure 7 passes it could cut off state funding for fam ily planning clinics if abortion is mentioned as an alternative, ac cording to Annalisa Robbed of the Lane County Planned Parenthood Association of Lane County. Robbed spoke Thursday night in a panel discussion sponsored by the Mid-Oregon Taxpayers for Equal Choice (MOTEC), a pro abodion group. Opponents of the measure be lieve its effects are unclear. “The horrible thing about Measure 7 is that it is so broad.” said Margie Hendrickson, a Eugene lawyer and member of the National Women s Political Caucus. According to Hendrickson, the measure could prevent state med ical schools from teaching abor tion procedures, cause abortion coverage to be dropped from State employees' health insur ance and endanger the state supported amiocentesis program, which tests unborn fetuses for serious birth defects. The ASUO student health in surance policy has recently added abortion to its coverage, accord ing to Lance Bloom of Metzker and Associates, who handles the policy. Hendrickson said that Measure 7 could affect student insurance coverage of abortion, although it is uncertain because HEW requires the company to provide it as part of pregnancy benefits. The real issue here is not allow ing poor people the same choices as wealthier people,” Hendrick son said. Although abortion would remain legal and available to those who could afford it, poor women would not be able to choose to terminate a pregnancy because they couldn’t get state funds. Sara Hendrickson, a Eugene physician, said that she thinks the measure would place limits on her medical practice. “It could also be carried to other things,” she said. “What if a group of taxpayers decides blood trans fusions are immoral and shouldn’t be funded?” Hendrickson said she would feel immoral about having her tax dollars spent on compulsory preg nancy. Robbert pointed out that it costs the state about $370 to finance a welfare abortion. In contrast, Robbert said, pre-natal care and delivery for a welfare mother and child costs taxpayers about $3,280 per case. The Lane County Voters pam phlet estimates that the Measure would add over $4 million per year in public assistance money. The state spent about $230 thousand last year to finance 17 per cent of the 13,000 abortions performed in Oregon, according to Oregon vital Health Statistics. Under present Oregon law, women on welfare at the time of conception are allowed on state financed abortion if they are over 18, or two if they are under 18. Whale pals to rip roof off Friends of whales are needed to join a work crew today to tear 100 years of roofing off Eugene's oldest commercial brick building. Oregonians Cooperating to Protect Whales, the structure’s sole current occupant, is asking volunteers to come to 873% Willamette St. at 10 a.m. Crowbars, shovels, hammers and push brooms, as well as a dump truck, are still needed for the weekend reroofing project. For further information, call 485-5144. EL COMEDOR MEXICAN RESTAURANT KIKI DEE featuring DEE MURRAY & DAVIE JOHNSTON of the Elton John Band Wed. Nov. 1 $550 Monday Night is Ladies Night! Two drinks for the price of One for all unescorted ladies. Tuesday Night is Tequila Night! Two tequila drinks for the price of one. TICKETS AVAILABLE AT SUN SHOP (campus). .EVERYBODY'S. ODYSSEY RECORDS & THE PLACE Seating is limited — 21 and over please 106 South Park • TOA WORLD ASSEMBLY PRODUCTION Page 6 ask the sexpert Ask the Sexpert is sponsored by Planned Parenthood of Lane County and is written by Carole Kirkpatrick, a local psychologist. Q. What is a transsexual, biologically? A. I am not sure whether you mean before or after surgical al teration, so I’ll take both cases. A potential transsexual is a person who is anatomically male or female who feels as though he or she is actually the opposite sex. They experience a revulsion for their own genitalia, and prefer the dress, mannerisms, interests and personalities of the opposite sex. No one knows exactly why a per son comes to this belief, but it is usually a very strong conviction . Because such people cannot be persuaded to give up their beliefs we have sex change operations. After hormone therapy, and a sex change operation, the person still carries his/her original chromosomes but now outwardly resembles the opposite sex. After such an operation, one is, of course, sterile, and usually not as completely functional as the de sired sex. I might also mention that since there is little public understanding of transsexualism, male-to female transsexuals outnumber female-to-male 10-1. This is thought to occur because males in our society experience stronger, more rigid socialization into the male role and therefore there are greater male “casualties.” Q. What is this I keep hearing about “natural” birth control? Where do you get it? A. With women becoming more aware of their bodies and less trusting of traditional contracep tives, there is increasing interest in understanding the female body changes that occur monthly in fer tile women. If you begin to under stand that these changse are natural changes, the phrase ‘natural” birth control makes sense. The two major changes that fer tile women experience each month are I) elevation of basal body temperature following ovula tion and 2) changes in the consis tency and quantity of mucus at the time of ovulation. I cannot detail the method adequately here, but Planned Parenthood has informa tion and there are now several books out on the subject. I would like to add two warnings. First, since this method is rela tively untested, it should not be used by anyone who is not willing to risk error and subsequent preg nancy. Second, to be successful, one needs to be in a relatively sta ble life situation with a cooperative partner. Illness, stress, travel can all throw off your cycle. Q. I heard somewhere that a man wore his jockey shorts too tight and became sterile. Could I do the same and keep my girlfriend from becoming preg nant? A. This story (along with its ice cube counterpart) seems to make the campus rounds every few years. The fact is that sperm are highly sensitive to temperature changes, and a couple of degrees either way will prove fatal to a goodly number of them. However, as birth control, this is totally unre liable because one would have to maintain a constant temperature and because many sperm (an es timated 10-day supply) exist out side the testes. WACO TWIN CINEMA 344 3861' 13th OH Franklin Btvd FRANKUN BLVD. PH. 344-3861 CALL FOR TIMES CO-HIT ELLIOn GOULD DIANE KEATON PAUISORVINO I Will, I Will ...For Now WACO TWIN CINEMA 344-3861 1 3th 011 Franklin Blvd HELD OVER CALL 344-3861 FOR SHOW TIMES After her divorce, Erica got to know some pretty interesting people... including herself. RlRESTRICTB) _COLOR &V MOVILLAB HUNTS BY DeLUXE1 fiSrCn MOUSE PGj Friday, Octobar 13,1978
