EDITORIAL
r
Abortion pill extends
the right to choose
Tii« controversial “abortion pill.” RU-486. < amt* a stop
closer to widespread availability in tho United Status
earlier this month after its French manufacturer agreed
to hand the technology and patent rights for the pill over
to a non-profit contraceptive organization in New York,
known as the Population Council.
Pro-choice advocates praise the move; pro-life groups
predictably decry it Disagreements over the morality
of abortion are not likely to be resolved soon, regard
less of the progress of RIJ-4B6. Hut as long as women
maintain their right to an abortion — and as long as the
Supreme Court continues to uphold that right then
there is no reason to insist that women go through
surgery rather than take a less-dangerous pill.
RU-486 has been used by between 150,000 and
200.000 women in France alone and has been taken by
thousands more in Britain. Sweden and China.
Although the drug must go through clinical tests in this
country'be fore receiving government approval, a process
that will delay the drug's availability until at least the
summer of 1996. there is no reason to expect, given the
drug's su< cess rate, that approval will not arrive even
tually.
The Population Council estimates that from 25 per
cent to 40 percent of abortions now performed surgical
ly could be done with RlJ-486. The pill is not expected
to completely supplant surgical abortions because it i an
be used only until the seventh week of pregnancy.
There have been some concerns that making the pill
available here would Increase the number of abortions
and simultaneously reduce the seriousness of abortion
turning it into a casual decision made with little or no
regard for the fetus/baby. This fear rests on the false
assumption that taking RU-486 would be as simple as
just going to the medicine cabinet and popping a pill.
Women using Kl 486 will have to go to their doctors at
least three times once to lake the pill, again to take a
net essary follow-up drug and a third time as a checkup
for infix lion. Additional visits to discuss the pill and the
pregnancy itself are likely. And using the pill is painful
bei aose expelling the embryo can take several days. For
these reasons, even an RU-486 abortion would require
serious contemplation and effort.
There are many reasons why a woman might prefer
Rl -486 to a surgical abortion. She may fear surgery
itself; she may be intimidated by the pro-life groups that
regularly protest clinics in some cities. Ur, if she lives in
a rural area, she may have to travel 100 miles or more
to find a clinic or doctor to perform a surgical abortion.
My contrast. RU ttui would be available from any doctor,
anywhere.
The abortion issue will i ontimio to divide Amerii ans
for years to come. Rl' 486 won't change that What it
will change is the ai cessibility of abortion. Kl 486 will
extend the right to choose to many women who previ
ously did not have it women for whom surgical abor
tion seemed too dangerous, difficult or distant. As long
as abortion is legal, it should also be available to all.
Oregon Daily
Emerald
Manning Edilw
EddwM Editor
Graphic* Editor
Fraalanca Editor
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COMMENTARY
Fisher’s attack tramples truth
By Kevin Hombuckle
Despite Ihe great need for
useful information and
analysis of social and eco
nornii developments, the Enter
old serves primarily as a prai •
tuing ground for students
wonting to make careers in the
thought « onlrol industry Some
component ol the industry,
which likes to t ail itself "jour
nalism" to disguise its systems!
u service to the wealthy and
their corporations, will open its
arms to Kmem/t/columnist Mar
tin I isher when he graduates
louking to climb another rung
on the profession's ladder
It will he an easy , quick step
lor fisher Iks lU ise he has proved
himself proficient at trampling
truth and insulting the need lor
democrat y I ake fur example
his mean spirited attack on me
(Of)/., Mart h i) In it he refers to
me as "the child" at the Kugene
City Council table with whom
other t ount iltirs ("adults") must
plead to vote "along common
sense lines ”
Hut fisher does not explain
die Iwsis of the "sense" tie refers
to. The basis is really ruling
i lass servii e. hut he leaves it
unstated. His fundamental dif
ferent.e with me is that he
tielieves capitalism is democrat
ic Vet rather than attempt to say
st» affirmatively and try to prove
it. Mr Fisher waged a character
attack against me that revealed
how truly shallow and ideolog
ically obedient one must be to
attain the journalistic status and
opportunity that Fisher enjoys.
Paragraph after paragraph.
Fisher slashes at my reputation
with sharp words backed by
nothing hut very vague general
izations There isn't even one
mention of an actual issue that
has come before the City Coun
cil. only stereotype and name
calling, for instance, he suggests
that I act like a baby to coerce
the council to "replace the city
charter with the Communist
Manifesto." With no specific
accusation of wrongheaded pal*
it y-making or malfeasance,
! ishwr is reviving the prartii e of
s\ 11c h hunting wherein evidence
is necessarily arbitrary le g . "1
know you’re wicked because
Cod tub! me the devil is vour
master ’’)
Fisher wrote, "llornbuckle
wouldn't know good govern
ment if it full on Ins head Being
a representative means making
compromises. You vote for
another representative's pro
grams, and in turn, that repre
sentative supports vour pro
grams It may not be perfect, but
that s the way it works Unless
you're llornbiu kle " !m redible'
Fisher writes as if he's arguing
for good government, vet he
endorses vole trading as a svs
tematit method of governing
Don't vote on print iple \'ute
out of political expedient e This
is Fisher's shameless notion of
how sot iety should be run This
is why he'll go far up the ladder
of tlie corporate media, whose
job is to justtfv the grass roots
inequalities political back
st retching has created from day
one of this country
In his column ("Dump Horn
hut.kle") Fisher encouraged peo
ple to sign a recall petition
against me, which was filed by a
young man who'd never met me
or telled me, nor written to me
about problems with my
actions Nor had he come to any
City Council meetings to
research the effects of my vot
ing. Hut he went to the media to
announce that Ins personal dis
like for me is so strong that I
should be kicked out of office.
Martin Fisher's ethics are simi
larly in the gutter of character
assassination He has never
interviewed me for a story, has
never called to ask me to
explain a vote I'd made and
didn't call to interview me aland
the points in the column in
question.
No, facts are bothersome
impediments to ideologists in
the thought control industry.
This is because the social and
t'l.immim. fm ts point straight to
the need for so< ial reorganiza
tion based on human need
instead of corporate greed. Yes,
Lenin was corns t when ho said
that freedom of the press will be
achieved when the people own
the presses.
Martin expressed befuddle
nienl that Ward t voters would
choose to believe the "confused
rnmblings of a disenfranchised
socialist" and deliver me to
office with a very decisive win,
Martin is the confused one He’ll
he similarly' unable to explain
why voters have refused to sign
the recall petition — enough so
that the question won’t even
make it to the ballot
The truth is that 1 get mam
letters and calls of support from
people in and out of Ward .)
Democracy is a very popular
thing, especially with the people
who agree that the Hill of Rights
must he extended to ini lude the
right to a job, to the right health
care and to the right to safe,
affordable housing. I have the
solid support of the working
class people because 1 am not at
all confused that < upitalism has
never and can never provide
these basic elements of a just
society On the day of this writ
ing. for instance. I got a letter
from a person who wrote, "I
think of you as a writer and a
teacher."
Losing vote after vote on the
City Council does not cause me
the demoralization Martin Fish
er and his role models at the
Register-Guard would hope to
instill. To the contrary, it causes
me to hold the torch of democ
racy and struggle higher and
more strongly. The economic
elite are firmly in control of the
City Council, but they shudder
at the thought of the people dis
covering that there is a way to
win equality and justice.
Kevin Hombuckh is Ward 3‘s
representative on the Eugene
City Council