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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 1995)
EDITORIAL r Initiative petitions need legal scmtiny Oregon's recently passed asslstod sulcjde initiative, the so-called "Death With Dignity" Ballot Measure 18, has reached a legal impasse Opponent* of the measure have succeeded in blocking the implementation of the narrowly approved initiative through a court-ordered injunction This has resulted, rather predictably, in shouts of protest from Measure 16 supporters, who charge that their rights are being trampled, since the Initiative was approver! by the voters, fair and square. Many of the supporters of 1'100's proporty-tax-limiting Measure f* felt the government betrayed them after the voters approved their measure. Because of legal maneu vering and changes to the assessment process, few peo ple realized any real tax relief through Measure 5. It seemed as if the government just threw out the measure : n 1 ause It didn't approve. With Measure 16 in similar jeopardy, some people are again asking, "Why should we bother having the initia tive process when the government can just ignore the will of the people anti overturn the new law?" It can be frustrating, surely, to expend all the time, money and energy nw.e-.sary to get a measure on the bal lot and approved by the voters, only to find that measure invalidated by government fx>fore it even takes effect, To some degree, that's unavoidable. The initiative process puts lawmaking power into the hands of peo ple who don't always know the law. Some of the laws are bound to be deemed un.it t eptabh* or unworkable (of course, laws written by the l-egislature often meet a sim ilar fate). Sometimes there's no way of knowing all a law's flaws until after it's been in place for a while. Hut tin* state should still consider expanding its pre election review process, to help weed out measures that could never stand up in court, or to fill in the kinds of loopholes in measures that may doom Measure 16 and hamstrung the old Measure 5. There were 18 measures on last November's ballot; some of them could never have stood up very long, even if they had been approved by the voters. So why were the people forced to vote on them? As long as this state remains committed to preserving the initiative process (let's not forget there are plenty of states that don’t let the people put their own measures on the ballot), then that process would receive a tremen dous boost if the state reviewed the measures more closely. The process loses credibility whenever a measure, duly approved by the voters, gets shot down by the courts or circumvented by the Legislature. People begin to think the process Is a sham. There's enough cynicism in politics already. If the state could take action to keep some of these doomed ini tiatives off the ballot in the first place. It might go a long way toward renewing people's faith In government. Oregon Doily Emerald ^jtrorati—— TK« 0«v*i £Wy fmmakS % d*ty itfcvxk»> fb^ougb * f«3«y iht M.tv& >■•#■• »«<) Tu«»<$Ay «fMJ Tbu'**1{|y (fcirrftQ tb«* by lb# 0*#90ft D# y t^#*4kJ ►b4*»bsf’»g Co , tnc ttl tb# Ufwo*"#?y o* Dragon. f ugow, Oa^;* TK# f afMiniitm tfXteperKlOKt^y oi tb« Urwwrvty ofUicn #> Sul* 300 o> (Ni (ft) M*nxv^ l>vor» «/*) i a nwr-tsm of th*» Aaaoosbad ^o»t TN# im&akf 4 jy*v}*t* property Th* untawrful rtmovaf o» u*ft of p#p#r» # prOMCUttbl by UN* Edflw m Ch^ Kitfy Sc4o ((^tOCWli Editor N«w« Art Editor Fr#«i*nc« Editor U**0 IfWn IW J«rft P *M*f tort Now t duew Hitoecc <l Ur* t fl Sport! Editor 0*t% fcM/ Supp*#m*nt! E<f tor T *ta Noot N*g*it Editor Amy CeMto AaaocuM* iOROri * flidancn von t.-arp. txyvairrvoanfrAcfrvOrM M<ar.. «*<*'-* I cN*»d*. Ccynrwvy^ty Titan? Srrwffv, High** f <fcca*0rv 4dm<r*ajr jae* F*aw» Staff St*»a A*fx*y A/^y Columbo. Pal OHy. Amy l Oauanport. Taaha f cftartaohar. A£» Iwsmaaa. PfVtvo Fontana. GayM for man. Onifcjphar Fo» UaH Qm^on. Gary (*a&> -X>a Harwood Krt» Ma*vy. Travc* Koamay, SNavxjn KAcM* Adam KA.ha Suava Marta Mar* MV*. Ban Moat***. Montgomery, Ann* Mn«w K0m**fct. On**** Panfhi*. Colawr PoNhg Sparry fWyry *•«*« S*t*x*r«n Pam Van Scfcta, m*a*- Teynao**, Aim Ac*m Rry»n Wonvacfc Oanarai Manager Axl» R*d Actv#*ti*ir»g Dirac to* V**-* Wafla Production Malaga* MtcftM# fto** Advertising Ann* Amador Anita Htw^aw Marco Cftmg, Tony fo*. Em Harahar. N<oh> fiar/marti .kw«rn, Mav - Sarah MtCftat Tom Mffafrtaarll Kate** Maaasl Claaaifiad flacfcy Ma*cAanC Manager Jo* SaAon, Jod Watf Distribution: John Long faranc RMuXft Rigtm /supnA Huai*#** Kathy Carbona. .Smaarvtssor Judy Coonoty Production Dahfca McCoH). f’axJUixv' Coordnafty Sh*«ma Above Tara GiaAnay. Brad >o%*. Jarwiar ftoiand. Oayfon Ya* Htwvoom ftuHrv#** Omc# 34* Mil J46-S512 Diaptcy AOvarBaing Cln»in«cl Atfwttming MA-3712 M6-U43 50 fAA SO &OO0 As/ow we tvrh TUR.EE /vy>«f r/Mf5 Kv.-W.V'S'H* Mill C*~v . f' •«;, f A;# ,« ' M*4 flkjv muwi'Bt Aimi > yriLLiosr ■ ■ OPINION Sacred Heart abortion policy valid Primp A. J. Fontana Following a national busi ness trend which should be quite familiar by now — the merger — the Eugene Clinlt. and Women's Care PC are currently considering joining the Sacred Heart Health System If they decide to do so. they will no longer be allowed to offer such services as abortion, artificial insemination, or. in the unlikely event that Measure 1ft ever leaves court, physician assisted suicide To most people, this seems completely logical Sacred Heart is run by a group of nuns, and most of us know the Catholic Church's stand on the previous ly mentioned procedures. But once again. Eugene is crossing the boundaries of rea son. and we get to sit back, relax, and enjoy another circus courtesy of the far left From all over the area we've had to listen to complaints aliout the possible merger The anti* Sacred Heart, anti-Catholu rhetoric has concentrated on two main points, one addressing the merger and the other the practices themselves, both of which were perfectly exempli fied in a letter to the editor in last Friday’s Emerald (Jan 6). The first argument from Sacred Heart's detractors is that the doctors of the F.ugene Clinic and Women's ('.are l*C are some how being "forced, financially," to use the writer's words, into the merger Although "financially” has been added as an afterthought, the dear implication is that the people in charge of the Sacred Heart Health System have used what the writer terms their "monopolistic, oppressive atti Iude" to push the smaller groups into the fold Now. before we allow visions of burly priests storming into medh-al offices demanding pro tection money to wander into our heads, let's set the record straight As Jennifer Uluru, a spokes woman for Sacred Heart, told me last week, the physic ians of the Eugene Clinic and Women's Care PC were the ones who expressed initial interest in forming an integrated delivery system with Sacred Heart. The physicians, as members of the Eugene medical commu nity. understood the group with whom they were getting involved, and as professionals, they must have also known, os Ulum said, that "when you merge into one organization, you compromise.” She told me that she hasn't sensed any "outrage or surprise" from those who may join, and there is no reason to think dif ferently, since as stated Indore, Sac red Heart's reputation pre cedes them. Do not let anyone mislead you by trying to imply that the Eugene Clinic and Women's ('.are PC are being shoved into an agreement with which they do not agree. The second part of the argu ment against Sacred Heart is that since it is tax-exempt, it should have to provide all medical ser vices to the community, even those towards which it is bla tantly opposed This argument is quite flawed The system is tax-exempt because it provides essential ser vices to this community that would otherwise need to lie per formed by the government. As things stand presently, abortion is not such a service. It is a voluntary procedure which is performed by other institu tions in the area, such as Me Kenzie-Willamette Hospital (at one of the clinics, not the hospital) and the Feminist Women's Health Center. The definition of a hospital, according to The American Her itoga Dictionary of the I'nghsh Dmguagf. is: "An institution providing medical or surgical ( are and treatment for the si( k and the injured " Quite obviously, Sacred Heart has fulfilled tfiis definition suc cinctly. and ns a consequence deserves its tax-exempt status. Even if the Eugene Clinic and Women's Care PC cannot pro vide the services in question, it still will deserve that status. When some say that Sacred Heart is "erecting unreasonable barriers to safe, legal medical care." they are totally out of line. The system provides "care" to many, and because it does so its rights as a Catholic organization should be respected. In His Holiness John Paul IPs new book Crossing the Thresh old of Hope, the Pontiff devotes a section of the work to once again distinctly define the church's position. He tails abor tion a “moral evil," anti this is certainly aligned perfectly with all of his predecessors and the dogma of the Faith He has also made similar claims about the other practices in question, which also are firmly rooted, for better or for worse, in Catholic tradition In a world where the popular media (from Rush Limbaugh to Connie Chung to the Christian Coalition to the Mighty Mor phin' Power Rangers) have begun to redefine morality almost daily, the Catholic Church, love 'em or hate 'em. has stood Finn. Sacred Heart's Sisters are pro tected by the First Amendment to exen ise their freedom of reli gion. and it is obnoxious and insensitive for anyone to think that this is improper. There is not a medical monop oly in Eugene, and unless the Clinton health care plan passes and gives us one. we are all free to go to another location for any legal service which wo desire. Pnmo A. I Fontana is a colain nist for the Emerald.
