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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 5, 1995)
EDITORIAL Clinic shootings hurt protesters The r**< ent shootings at abortion clinics in Massachusetts and Virginia illustrate the need to pro tect clinics from the violence of radical anti-abortion protesters John Saivi Hi was arrested in Virginia last week on i harges that he shot and killed two receptionists at two Massachusetts abortion clinics Dec, to He is also accused of firing into a clinic in Virginia, Saivi is tin* latest in • string of people to express thoir opposition to abortion violently, And he will probably not bo tho last. Some on the fringe of tho anti-abortion movement justify tho shootings by arguing that murdering doctors who perform abortions saves the lives of unborn fetus es. This typo of argument, although denounced by most abortion opponents, does nothing to aid tho anti abor tionists' cause. How "pro-life" is « murder? Others claim that by keeping anti-abortion demon strators from blockading clinic doors, clinics encourage such a shooting by a radical. However, those who want to murder doctors who perform abortions have demon strated that they can kill their target, no matter how (hallenging the task. I.ast |uly, Paul Hill murdered Dr. John Bayard in Florida, despite the fact that Bayard was wearing a bul letproof vest and was accompanied by a protective escort. The escort, James Barrett, also was murdered Unfortunately. Saivi and Hill are but two of a long list of people who der ided to express thoir opposition to abortion by violent means. Besides murders. opponents of abortion have also vandalized clinics, threatened doctors and menaced patients in order to further their goal of making abor tion inaccessible to women, A short-term answer to the violence would include heavier security at abortion clinics, restricting access to the clinic to those who need to bo inside: doctors, staff and patients, But a longer-term solution would be to convince those on l>oth sides of the abortion issue that violence, either for or against the right for a woman to have an abortion, is unnecessary and detrac t» from logical dis cussion of the issue. it is easy to understand that emotion runs very high on either side of the abortion debate. However, murder ing doctors and clinic personnel does not change the minds of those on either side of the issue. Peaceful demonstrations are the most conducive way for anti-abortion activists to express their feelings and to get their message across. Unfortunately, the very few violent demonstrators help to tarnish the entire group of anti-abortion protesters. The abortion Lssuo is already polarized enough. Murdering doctors and other workers in abortion clin ics does nothing to further the cause of the anti-abor tion movement. / toffy eo* >e* matte c«at.o*. »■*.; TN» OwQon l t» pub*»*b4KJ t*vougr» dtey Outtng m© ictoo* |Ad !u«ttlay ftAtJ fhv'Klay <JuftrtQ lymmot by Oa fy Co . bvc . afl 9m t>***r*rty of Oagcxr f On^or1' is© tmmtkj *«lip«ndart&y o* v* wm off*** <* S^t» 300 o» 9m t ft> MwiKvtaf arxl <% « of AA#oc**t«wj P**&» T f dl prfvata property TN» timovg or uttft of p«per« «* pro»«C\4J&* by in Oregon EcMoc-fn-Cbkaf Kafv So#c Editor fditor**l MMbt H*w» An (drtw ft+Mxc* Editor Own} Thom Aobfr# (W>w Pftfetoy to« Oectmettfcj H0W% Editor Sports Editor Supplements Editor Night Editor Rafetcca M»'« Chum. Mte</ No<* D*v»d thorn lotto** * ?**.:**%.* vOf> Carp. 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J*nrvl«f Oay*Qn Y« N*wvoofTt Offtc* 346-M11 34+4512 04K>*«y Atfv#fU*mg CtMStfMti Advertising W4-37I2 346-4M3 r SuPe, ivagLS Aue ^alumg. r/N fACT, TOP £V£PV JOB LOST Two AftE CPCATH>. r I KNOW. I'fA wock'ng BOTH OF 7H£M V NOW. i4v *mti i>*Tv Tfcf JUM4U> m*«.* ' L= A CtULLluT TWfv/CAM I net\Kl ' * £ j ■ OPINION 1994 not kinder, gentler as expected When 1994 was a brand new year, 1 remember wading a prediction for the year somewhere It said that 1‘fM would l>« a year of moving forward, a year of progress, both is onomii and s*h ial If we could gauge HKH by a mood ring s col or, it would bo tranquil blue. Stock campaign phrases like George Bush's "kinder, gentler nation" was to Umnine a reality Yeah, right The year started with violence, nastiness. d<s »»it. and so the tone w as sel f irst we got a dose of the the ugly side of competition The Tonya and Nanc\ Show The front-page soap opera of skater sabotage swept the nation The story was everywhere — another cmlsirmssment for Oregon While the country argued over who would end up the boat skater in the world, a young Ukrainian bal lerina on skates. Oksana Hnyul. wiped the ice with both Tonya's and Nam v 's egos The mood ring is turning, warming to a pink now. It only got warv In the spring. >i bloody civil war broke out in Rwanda It grabbed front page news for a few days and then retreated into the American memory Rwanda's faraway; it doesn't matter anyway. More important things were happening A woman in Virginia had lopped off her husband's [amis because he had boon abusing her But the doctors sowed it back on. and we were all forced to hear his woeful siory as he apjiuarvd on every talk show that would have him That mood ring is deepening to a rosy hue O J. Simpson mania captured tiie national attention next A glo rified. alleged murderer folk hero, whom everyone cheered on — or made money off of We reveled in the violence, salivated over every bloody detail, A crazed pro life zealot killed a doc tor who performed abor tions fie justified the killing by saying that he had a responsibil ity to kill someone who was killing others. The law. howev er. disagreed with him. He has Gayu: Forman been sentenced to death because the law says that it is wrong to kill someone ev en if that person is killing others follow pro-lif ers applauded this gunman's de-ed, and other crazy Christians have followed suit. The national moot! ring is now fire-engine red We found out that Anita Hill had been telling the truth after all, after a book revealed Clarence Thomas' nasty habits Hut of course it was too late Bob Pack wood ruse above his 20 some odii sexual harassment charges and now has a powerful spot on the .Senate Finance Committee. We saw the Republicans suddenly become very interested in sexu al harassment when Paula Jones accused Clinton of doing the deed. But nowhere did this nation's kinder, gentler side bear its ugly head more than during the November election. Venom over shadowed valor; cut downs replaced construction. The most regressive politicians hailed themselves as the agents of change Promises were made that cannot be fulfilled He who spoke loudest and most menacingly won And the American people, wanting change, tired of gridlock, voted for those who have been digging their heels in, pulling against the tide of change for years Those Americans that actu ally voted, that is; most didn't bother So during 1994 we got Newt Gingrich, drunk with power and ready to rule the country Now in he is waging .1 w ar igainsl welfare mothers, threatening (O cut their cash flow and sti< k their kids in orphanages The man who ditched his own family one u he made it to Congress is out to rede fine how the American family should act. He has appointed himself judge and jury of this country and all its people, and his wrath is a fiery one. More gentle progression was down in ( jdifomia, where voters passed Proposition 187. to ban all state aid for illegal aliens. Now sick, kids won't get treated nor will they get educated, creating a whole new generation of dis enfranchised. uneducated youth The mood ring is on fire now. Back in Lane Count>, a crazy man knocked on a Springfield woman’s door, and when she opened the door, he shot her. Kids are shooting each other on school playgrounds. Towns like Sweet Home now compare them selves to gang meccas like Los Angeles. Gang hysteria has swept Eugene, though the kids involved in the shootings are mostly white and not Blood or Crip affiliated. Everyone is panicking that Eugene will lose its innocence Meanwhile no one is asking where these kids got their guns from — usually from their par ents, and folks continue to effuse the glories of gun ownership. The mood ring is gone now. It was too hot to t*<ar, so we took it off. Apparently that kinder, gentler year will have to come some time later And with the way things seem to be going so far. 1 wouldn't expect it any time soon. Last year showed with ( hilling clarity, what we as a nation con sider to be our priorities: our beliefs, our money, our children Everyone is looking out for No. 1, and other people's bad news doesn't matter. Hut all is not lost While this was a pretty sad year on this side of the planet. 1994 brought an event that many people never guessed they would live to see. In South Afric a, with the cast of a simple vote, 400 years of oppression ended. Just like that How's that for gentle progress? Gayle Forman is a columnist for the Emerald.
