EDITORIAL Sacred Heart policy should be respected Sacred Hear! General Hospital was founded on reli gious values. For years, the hospital has refused to allow abortions or any other medical procedure deemed immoral by the Catholic Church. As a private organization. Sacred Heart has every right to operate as it pleases. Although patients may disagree with the hospital's firm stanco against abortion, they must respect their care givers. And physicians practicing at Sacred Heart should understand the rules of their employer. If the hospital were founded as a public orga nization. doctors and patients could try to change this situation. Conflict over Sacred Heart's abortion policies erupt ed after Sister Monica Heeran. president of the Sacred Heart organization, refused to accept a plan that would have allowed doctors to continue practicing abortions at their clinic after it merges with Sacred Hoar!. Physicians and other Eugene residents say the hospi tal shouldn't apply its religious standards to a secular community, especially if the organization is going to control most of the local health care market. Sacred Heart Health System already provides about 70 percent of hospital service* in Lane County and will provide a similar portion of outpatient services after mergers with The Eugene Clinic, the Oregon Medical Group. Women's Care and other specialty clinics Abortion rights advocates say Sacred Heart's strict reli gious policies overtook the important medical needs of women. However. this debate isn't about morality or religion. It's about ownership ami private rights. The clinics that may be absorb**} by S.tcrod Heart know that the hospital is a private organization. Employees of anv private busi ness know they must respect the wishes of their employ er or find someplace else to work. If the affected clinics do not want to change their alx>r tion policies to meet Sacred Heart's religious standards, they should oppose any mergers w ith the Eugene hos pital. Sacred Heart has not tried to keep its firm Catholic values a secret, and doctors shouldn't be surprised that they can t perform abortions once they are employed by Sacred Heart. Abortion right- advocates shouldn't attack Sacred Heart's policies as if they were newly drafted. For years, local doctors and patients have act epted the rules with out much protest. People have alternatives for abortions in Lane County, and although the merger will take away a portion of these options. Sacred Heart shouldn't be the victim of rallies and protests fur standing by something it has believed in since its founding People involved in this issue need to step away from the traditional pro choice-pro life argument and focus instead on the ramifications of private control None of these i linn - ate being forced to merge with Sat red Heart, but If they do thov should be prepared to follow the rules. There’s no doubt that Sai red Heart will have difficul ty with the widening rift between the hospital's Catholic values and the Eugene secular community. Hut. as a pri vate organization, the hospital has a right to stand by what its founders believe „ Emerald —i ii< i —— *Ni Qmfy ( e**r mao <§ pufcj&thetf d*** *f>rowgih f rw *.*«» »«*f ifKl T^**30y *j*d <)UfW>g *H# frudn*vtrf trf t** Of#Q|Ort D* * € ’"*'•***<3 Pytifc*h*nQ Co , fcK . an !?*# U»v*eniy o* 0**QO"rk £ uQin*. 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Hold on, it’s not svhat you think. 1 feel like ihai lovable under d«|t Charlie Brown would after he finally, somehow, some way. kicked the football that law v has tauntingly held —and yanked away at the last sec os id — for so many wars Throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s, l sat on soggv wooden benches at Autzen Sta dium w ith thousands of other Big Creen faithful. Sometimes the greatest struggle in the con test was in the stands, as fans tried their best to keep from c atching pneumonia from the cold and drizzle of those wet years. I was there the year Air Force beat us in the pouring rain — a game and afternoon so dismal that the Air Force mascot, a wet and miserable falcon, refused to fly at halftime I remember one particularly ugly Duck game at Autzen when some fans started being nasty to one another As 1 sat there w ith a high school buddy, some no life jerks several rows behind us started tossing garbage on our heads I was in Husky Stadium early in the 1980s when the Dawgs put a cheap-shot late hit on then quarterback Chris Miller, injuring him and putting him out of the game Do you remem ber that one' Can you feel my pain? in that battle, we won everything except the game. Kven The Seattle Times admit ted the Dowgs tame away with a victory they didn't deserve I was there when the Ducks and Beavers fought to a 0-0 tie in the t onferem « struggle for last place in the infamous ice Bowl The only highlight of that game was when the clot k finally ran out in spite of those disappointing years ami some games that are ties! forgotten, the teams of yes turday had heroes and moments of glory Names like Reggie Ogburg, Dw ight Moser and Steve Cre.it wood who through my memory, reminding me of good teams with tons of heart, but. sadly, ones that many times came up shorter on the scoreboard than their opponents To admit to biting a real Du< k fan is to admit to being in a painful relationship The Ducks broke my heart year after year — which is why 1 had to finally get out of the relationship lost year, the first year 1 missed several home games Gasp' Yes it's true I had to stop loving the Dui ks so intensely. basil ally for my own good So what happens' This fall 1 decide to go to Indiana for a three'month journalism course and miss the entire 1994 season Despite my glaringly obvious absence from the stands, the Dui ks capture an outright Pa< to t hampionship and a trip to the Rose Boys! All this while Tin gone After 18 years of wandering in the medio* re desert. Huh Brooks and his coat hing staff and players deserve their trip to the promised land. They earned it. Their come-from-behind tenacity also earned them national attention and ranking. This turned out to be the magi cal season where the media cov ered the Ducks almost as well as the Gang Green defense covered offenses throughout the confer ence Gan you sav KSPN and AIU TV ’ Sports Illustrated f No 12 in the nation' It has been crazy, and it has been a lot of fun. Vep. 1 missed the season, the game, the drive, the interception and the boat, forgive me if 1 hog all tlu» Dm k paraphernalia on sale in every store from Portland to Ashland I missed the Ducks beating both Arizona teams in the same season, bat k to bat k By the time I got home, it was only t wo days before the Civil War, and tickets hud long since been gobbled up. 1 did watch the game on tele vision, but to be honest. I didn't think the Ducks were going to pull it off in the end like they did, just like they had all season. 1 just didn't believe they could do it And maybe that is the differ ence between the 1994 Oregon football team and many of those luckless teams of yesterday The difference with this Dm k team and this golden season with its hearty young men and high hopes is that when every one else gave up on them (admit it, many of us did. and so early in the season), they never gave up On themselves When it was third and long and the prisoners were being taken «s the city burned, they still believed in themselves This is why our boys, and God bless every last one of them, are going to Pasadena in 1995. David V Bartlett is a senior motoring in journalism