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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 1981)
Population growth: Is there an answer? Bill sparks controversy ZERO POPULA TION GROWTH or zero population control? That’s the issue before Congress in the form of "The Global Resources, Environment and Population Act of 1981," a bill introduced last month by Sen Mark Hatfield. R-Ore., that calls for analysis of the relationship between world population and world resources Conflict is only beginning — between Zero Population Growth adherents and the American Life Lobby — over Hat field’s bill The act would establish an interagency council to recommend to the president national population policies promoting national and global population stabilization ZPG and the World Population Society commend Hatfield for preparing and introducing the bill into the Senate They say the bill is a major step torward solving world overpopulation. Not so. says Judy Brown, ALL execu tive director "There are a multitude of reasons for opposing this bill,” she says But the bill has received support from a variety of senators and organizations, says Dick Granger. Hatfield's legislative assistant on energy and natural re sources "It doesn’t cost the country any mon ey, and it doesn't add to the workforce It will get the president to study the prob lems that we've got and it won't cost a cent." GRANGER SAYS ONCE the public is informed about the global population situation, the bill will receive even more support "It's one of those issues that take a while to get off the ground People need to realize that the world population is growing exponentially, and resources are not " National security is threatened by the increase in population within the United States, Granger says "Events like the assasination of (Egyptian) Pres (Anwar) Sadat can have immediate effect on our energy supply It's simple to understand that the more people that you have, the more energy you use,” says Granger "We haven't received one letter of opposition to the bill," he says "We re taking it one step at a time There's usually some opposition to any bill, but we think this one has got a lot going for it." The ALL doesn't agree The group — the only one now opposing the bill — says Congress should stay away from the messy side effects of population control "Our job is to make sure all of the members of Congress realize that there is some opposition to this piece of legis lation Our side will be heard in this issue," Brown says "Ultimately, issues like abortion will be involved," says Brown "Other things, like sterilizing Spanish women without their consent and using (contraceptive) drugs that have been banned in the U S could be involved also "We believe the U S should be con cerned with helping the underdeveloped nations through the production of food, not through wiping out their popula tions," she says ROBERT SASSONE, AN attorney on the ALL board of directors, checks the population figures used by ZPG and similar groups Much of the data con cerning poulation and resources used by Congress is wrong, and some of it may have been fabricated, Sassone says “They are utilizing the same statistical errors that the ZPG people have been using for years,” says Sassone He claims that some departments within the government have been allocated extra funds by increasing the numbers on their population data "It enables the rich to get richer, if it's used properly And baby, it's used properly," he says Supporters of the bill say overpopula tion is a direct cause of a large number of people starving Sassone says overpopulation has nothing to do with starvation "They’re not starving because of a lack of food production," says Sassone People in Third World countries are starving because of mismanagement of food resources, he says "It's so easy to stop starvation For 1 percent of the U S budget we could stop the world's starvation, if it were properly used," he says Sassone says the opposition to Hat field's bill may be slight, but it will proba bly be enough to stop the bill from pass ing through Congress "I don’t think we'll have to do much My first inclination is to just ignore it, because it will probably go away," he says Carol Baker disagrees The executive director of Zero Population Growth says the bill will be passed through Congress without much opposition "It's really a historic occasion." says Baker "We couldn’t be more pleased with Hatfield's bill It's going to do more than )ust help sustain a higher quality of life,” she says "If the U S sets up a national population policy, it will help to give us stature and credibility worldwide Baker says the council set up by the bill would not have the authority to impose any kind of restrictions on Third World nations “WE ARE NOT at the point of talking about mechanisms to control population yet," says Baker "This bill is simply to , analyze growth and resources within the nation and the rest of the world " Imposing taxes on large families may be necessary in the future to discourage further growth, she adds "This country needs to neutralize its incentives for having children ” says Baker "There may come a time when we will be forced to use economic disincen tives to discourage growth We are not too far from the day when we will have to make the same decision that China did " China withdraws health, food, space and work benefits from couples who have more than one child Frank Oram, the executive director of the World Population Society, says Hatfield's bill will help American busi nesses "American businessmen consider it a high risk to invest in other countries that have high populations, because these countries tend to have unstable govern ments," says Oram "THIS IS PROBABLY the most impor tant piece of legislation put through Congress in a very long time.” he says “It deals with the future, with the ob|ec tive being to plan our own society Sen Hatfield has shown incredible foresight " "The United States has no policy con cerning population We have never come to realize in this country the impact of global overpopulation,” he says Story by Chris Courtnier Miahtv_ HeanGffien BIG NiQiJTH from Mickey's Molt Liquor 1981 G HEILEMAN BREWING COMPANY, INC LACROSSE WISCONSIN AND OTHER CITIES LPC Graphic by Man DaPungi ORLD America 1981 -254 -286 PULATION (in millions) • = 43 million people C.1981 - 4,492 C.200Q — 6,095 _A Sources Population Reference Bureau Inc Washington D C MO-PING Food tor Everyone Medard Gabel Anchor Booh ’979 R Buckminster Fuller Dymaxion Sky-Ocean World Map d967 Sociologist worries about population bill Although this country needs a population policy, the bill introduced by US. Sen Mark Hatlfield, R-Ore , could create problems, says a Univer sity sociology professor "The bill is very comprehen sive It's awesome in scope,’’ says Lawrence Carter, Univer sity sociology professor "What bothers me is something it might be masking ” "The Global Resources, En vironment and Population Act of 1981" could have implications beyond the establishment of a population council, he says Carter says the bill doesn't cover many of the problems faced in overpopulated areas. "This bill is focusing on the population, environment, and resources," Carter says "It seems to me the major problems are made socially, economical ly, and politically. "What really seems to be the problem is the distribution of food," Carter says "Maldis tribution of food resources within the government is re sponsible for food shortages. "One-quarter of the world's populations consumes one third of all food resources Evidence seems to show the developed countries are still going to be the greatest con sumers at the turn of the cen tury,” Carter says. Studies show that people in the third-world countries are moving into more developed areas, Carter says “A migration of this kind can be socially and culturally dis abling both for those migrating and for the country that receives them.” Story by Chris Courtnler Population controls threaten human rights Coercive sterilization, the dis tribution of dangerous contraceptives and other population controls attack women's rights, says a University doctoral student in sociology "I don't believe in any mass con trol of women's reproductive rights I do believe in women having access to cheap, safe birth control, and I believe that's very different from popula tion control,' says Sharon Claeyssens, who studiesand lectures on population control Puerto Rico, where sterilization is pushed as the ideal form of birth control, is an example of a territory that practices population control "People who live there think it's strange that an island which loses so much of its population in migra tion to the United States would have been targeted for population control, and it has the longest running program in the world,” Ciaeyssens says More than one third — 37 percent — of Puerto Rican women between 14 and 44 years old have been ster ilized since the program s inception, she says Ster ilization is the only form of birth control that is free because doctors are reimbursed for sterilization operations, primarily through United States health and welfare funds ki addition, birth control pills and lUDs were tested in Puerto Rico "Some women there died as a result of those experiments," she says The United States also practices coercive popula tion control, Claeyssens says Some black women in the South have been told they would lose their welfare or be refused medical treatment if they refused sterilization after their second child, she says Native Americans, Claeyssens says, also have been subjected to similar treatment At least 25 percent of American Indian women have been sterilized, and in some tribes 80 percent of the tribe's women have been sterilized, dooming that tribe to extinction "It upsets me because it's against reproductive rights It upsets me because it's genocidal Claeyssens says certain subgroups are targeted for population control — poor people and colored people — and as long as there are no federal guidelines against it, it will continue at the local level "It's very important to distinguish between population control and reproductive rights When contraceptives in only certain forms are introduced on a large scale to a targeted group, that is population -■ ' r control, that is social Darwinism, that is social engin eering." Outside of the United States, many birth control products banned here are still being used for popula tion control, Claeyssens says For example, the Agency for International Development was challenged about deaths resulting from their distribution of Daikon Shields, an IUD The manufacturer, A H Robins Co., sold unsterilized Dai kon Shields to AID at a 48-percent discount The sterilized version of this birth control device was determined to be dangerous and was banned in the United States Use of the Daikon Shields abroad result ed in a number of pelvic infections and subsequent deaths, Claeyssens says "The whole zero population growth movement is not too far removed from Malthusian ideology,'' Claeyssens says Thomas Malthus, a British writer living at the end of the 18th century, thought the poor brought their misery upon themselves by overproducing and therefore increasing competition for scarce jobs "One might say we should provide more jobs for poor people Instead, Malthusians say poor people should not reproduce as much as other people There by we target Third World countries, which are the poor countries of the world, as the people who should not be reproducing themselves " Although the Third World has a larger proportion of the world's population, it consumes about 10 percent of the world's resources, Claeyssens says The United States holds a much smaller population but consumes proportionately much more of the world's resources “We need to concentrate more on the redistribu tion of resources and if we are concerned about the environment, as the ZPG people say they are, then we should be concerned more about what the industrial countries are doing to the environment because they have much more potential to destroy the environment than overpopulation." The recipients of population control — Third World women, minority and poor women in the United States - are anything but helped, Claeyssens says. They lose their “reproductive freedom" in countries where ster ilization is pushed and where other forms of birth control are dangerous "I am a champion of reproductive rights I do not believe that women’s rights to control their bodies are sanctioned under population control.” Story by Ron Hunt 1 TAKE A BREAK! There’s more to your education than just studies Check ODE CLASSIFIED EVENTS & ENTERTAINMENT BIGGEST & BEST BARGAIN BOOK SALE EVER! We've purchased over 300 cartons of publishers’ overstock of books in all subjects. With prices as low as $1 98 this represents the best selection of bargain books we’ve ever had Check our tables each day this week as we add new titles to the display. “Gift Books, Biographies, Cook Books, Histories and more... Look for our special tables out front and Upstairs in the Book Dept
