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.