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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 27, 1995)
EDITORIAL Ballot box better for OSPIRG debate The OSPIRG funding debate has reached a new level. The ASUO Programs Finance Committee rejected OSPIRG'* goal statement last term. Now a lawsuit is going to be filed to ensure that the group is never fund ed. The Individual Rights Foundation, which describes itself as a “non-profit, public-interest law firm" in Los Angeles, has decided to sue the University in an effort to cut the funding of OSPIRG. The president of the group described the upcoming suit as a message to universities against "backdoor political funding drivelsl" Backdoor? In the c asa of OSPIRG and a number of stu dent-run programs at the University, the truth is that the students did have a say. An election is held every two years in which students am asked whether OSPIRG should l>e funded. Unfortunately, few students choose to participate in campus elec tions. In fact, fewer than 1,700 students even voted on the OSPIRG question in the 1004 election. Hut among .those who did, the measure passed by about 200 votes. It's disheartening to realize that students choose to have so little say in how their money is spent when their voice truly counts — at the ballot box But that doesn't negate the fact that students did, and continue to have, a say in the system Just because few chose to vote shouldn't invalidate the views of those stu dents or the integrity of the electoral system. Students should solve debates like the OSPIRG fund ing question at the ballot box during the regular cam pus ele< lions in the spring It's the reason why time is spent conducting an election. Student government and student organizations want to know what students think about certain issues. When only 1,700 students vote, it gives the distinct impression that no one cares if OSPIRG is funded or not. As has been the oft-repeated slogan of many who sup port funding OSPIRG, the University is a true market pln< e of ideas. Financially supporting OSPIRG helps to contribute another viewpoint to the others on campus With the lawsuit, the debate over OSPIRG will be leav ing the juriadh tion of students and entering that of the legal system. What was a student debate over funding policy will become a protracted lawsuit that will be appealed regardless of the outcome. The suit, which could set precedent for many campus groups, would not be settled for many months and almost certainly not by September Suing the University isn’t the way to resolve the debate of funding OSPIRG. Students must vote during campus elections and express their opinions instead of being apathetic and letting the few decide for the many. Students had their chance to decide whether OSPIRG should be funded and they voted to fund the group. 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Ciayton V** W«wvo(yn Ottc# 546 5511 546-5512 Dmlftid Advertising 34*4713 M*-434J * TAKE DEFENSE, FAR/A SUBSIDIES, SOCIAL SECUftirV, MEDICARE AND /NTEREST PAVM£A/7S OFF THE TABLE and fhere's OMLV SO MUCH LEPT ro cur w— . 3( 'tft rvf VAYIHC, ThHOv<M tUt Wl TD'jPlTC VCHA SAV«V6 fPCC, OR SOME 7A//A/6 _ ■ COMMENTARY Anti-abortion ad inaccurate, misleading Wendy Dame A few wwls ago. this publica Hon included n 12-page adver tising insert brandishing the words "She's a child, not a choice" across the cover (ODE Mar 10) The campus and the community were outraged and rightfully so. This has. however, provided Planned Parenthood with an opportunity to < lear up a por tion of the misinformation print ed in this anti-chon e insert and provide abortion facts left out Although our local Planned Parenthood does not perform abortions, we do offer reproduc tive health care, pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection counseling and educational pro grams We have access to a num ber of resourt «s concerning pregnancy and abortion and twl it is critical to clear up at least some of the misinformation printed in the insert. Misinformation »1 What's wrong with this picture?! The stages of development of the fetuses were income t The insert used the medical date, the first day of the last menstrual cycle, rather than gestation, allowing them to describe and picture fetuses at least two weeks more developed than the developmental stage printed Misinformation »2—So-< ailed Post Abortion Syndrome This condition described by the insert as women suffering mental and emotional anguish follow ing an abortion is a nun condition completely refuted by Surgeon General C Kverett Koop years ago In fact, according to an article in Science (Apr i>, 1995), the most prominent emo tional response ol most women to first-trimester abortions is relief Neither the American Psychological Association nor tlie American Psychiatric Asso ciation recognize the existenc e of this condition Another study entitled “Postpartum and Postahorlion Psychiatric Reac lions" shows that serious psy chiatric disturbances an- less fr*? quunt after abortion than after childbirth. Misinformation * t When are abortion* typic ally performed? In more than one article in the insert, readers are led to believe then* arc* a great number of abor tions performed in the second and even the third trimester. Only 11 percent of abortions are performed after 12 weeks. Few er than 1 percent of abortions are provided after 21) weeks In practice, women have act ess to abortion in the third trimester only when their lives are in dan ger or when the fetuses are severely deformed Facts the anti-abortion insert left out Fact »l—When abortion is illegal, women die. Between 1H*T> and 1070, des peration forced millions of women (o turn to dangerous back-alley abortions. Thousands of women died — at least 100 a year Thousands more suffered mutilation, long-term illness and even sterility Many women inserted hangers and other sharp objects into their uteruses. threw themselves down staircases, or swallowed lye, bleach, or tur pentine In 1909. 1H women a day were admitted to hospitals in New York City alone for treat ment of incomplete abortions. Approximately 1.5 million safe and legal abortions are pro vided oat h year in the United States If abortions were made illegal once again, the number of illegal abortions would probably soar from the current 20,000 to more than 1.000,000 per year. The heaviest burden would fall on young, poor and minority women who would be forced to rely on unqualified practition ers, attempt self-induced abor tion, or bear unwanted children. Fact »2—In a single year, more than a million US teenagers become pregnant. Mam of these young women have little understanding of Between 1845 and 1970, desperation forced millions of women to turn to dan gerous back alley abor lions. their bodies and have begun having sexual intercourse before receiving information or coun seling about ways to prevent pregnancy. Some have been raped or sexually abused. Fact #3—Forty percent of teenage women who become pregnant choose to have an abortion rather than bear a child at that time. Teenagers with unplanned pregnancies face difficult choic es If they carry to term and keep the baby they will be more like ly than other young women to drop out of s< hoot, dev - health problems, have their mar riages end in divorce and live in poverty the rest of their lives Since 197?) (Planned Parent hood opened its teen birth con trol clinic in 197H), teen preg nancy in Lane County has declined 4fi percent and teen abortions have declined 71 per cent. Prevention is the key. Although abortion as an option must always lie available for women, prevention is the lmst alternative. It is crucial that education programs are made available for everyone These programs should include pre vention of pregnancy and sexu ally transmitted infection, as well as decision making skills to delay sexual activity. Silence and ignorance can lie deadly. Misinformation, such as that presented in the anti-abor tion insert, does nothing but mislead, discriminate against and degrade women. Wendy Dame is the board presi dent for Planned Parenthood Health Senices of Southwestern Oregon
