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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 31, 1995)
EDITORIAL Health insurance not affordable We're pretty sure most of you don't lose sleep over who in this community does or does not have health Insurance. If you have insurance, then why should vou care If your neighbor, friend or just that annoying guy in your math class has it? If you don't believe this, then you should have made your way to Salem this week to voice your disgust with Senate Bill 50.1 This bill seeks to exclude students who. if they were not attending s< hooi. would le? eligible for health cov erage under the Oregon Health Plan. The conventional (twisted) wisdom goes something like this because these people are students, they are eligible for health coverage from their schools Those school* have health centers and the health centers can ac« ommodate the stu dents. Now those of us who are actually in school and not in an office in Salem realize that proximity and access tint two different things. It s not possible to work for min imum wage, pay rent, pay tuition and still have the mon ey left over to pay for an insurance polu v On this campus, an annual insurance policy costs $572, but that won’t really get you anything but the pol icy You will have to pay a 5200 deductible, so actually the policy costs $772. The cost for a student with one dependent is $1,679 plus a $400 deductible. For a stu dent with two or more dependents the cost is $2,264 plus a $600 deductible. We don’t know about you. but no one on our editori al board was fortunate enough to have this much extra money lying around. Most of us have insurance only through our parents, and only as long as we are students. But wo are the lucky ones. rvoi only is great cost ttivoiveo, mu trie lactuties at col leges and universities around the state art) very different We are blessed to have a women’s < link, a dental clinic, a pharmacy and a sports medicine and physical thera py department. Only two community colleges have health centers: Central Oregon Contmunitv College and Lane Community College. Again, wo are the lucky ones According to the Oregon Student Lobby, about GO Uni versity students will be affected by this bill. It will affect many more students at other colleges around the state, however, especially at community colleges We urge and implore you to stand in solidarity with your fellow students around the state and do what ever you can to show your disgust with the governor's office for proposing this deplorable piece of legislation. As Robert Nosse of the Oregon Student Lobby said, "The most important thing to remember is that those people are going to school to hotter their lives and this hill just throws more hurdles in their way. The people who will bo affected are not fresh-faced youngsters, they are nnntraditiona! students who have stopped thoir lives in order to go back to school, They will only be on this plan for a couple of years until they get their degrees and can find good jobs and get their own insurance." Emerald Oregon Daily IN* £>«a * f ‘4 MMe--I and 1 and tN* a*.i*y <Jk***yg ft-*© » Cd , b* . a* t*"*# UiVvorsaTy erf f ! *• £ ?** 'ftCMotfidtfttfy ^ £ ft. Memo**! lb von and •$ « o4 A&mx fV **00* th# £r<i Hktf t# property TN> utt Editor m ChMtf Kjtfy J ■»d*y dutfsog tft# fK#*OOi C mmrj/a :m *t Sw»i« 300 orf m* pap«*» «•» & csmuiAahk* •Mn*g*vg (anor i <nh t ,m,-> N»w» Afl Editor rrt<ta«H« Editor IN**] inor« IfcafcOo Mmmm Jo* Pasuny to* N#wm t .J’UV HMMUI M.- f! 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(ararv >i»;> .-• GraPam Smoaon Budnaaa Kathy C«t»ne, ’cearav Jury Como*y Production OaPAa McCoOO. FWodUcaon C<xvt*naror SPoama AOara. Tara GauAnay. (Wad Joa* IMy M. Carta J*«% Motond Clayton Yaa Nmroorn _ Offlc* 144-S511 >46-5512 Dtaeiay Actwtttmg CUWM AOvrVttng -MM71I _ MMM A GREAT Pi6 LIKE VOU, you don't eat All AT ONCE. i..-*./%'#• A •, 41 ' *4( }■ i :>vo 1% m ft* v m POBK THAT NAS SM£0 , mahoh£ politician's bacon J, ■ OPINION Faith’s views protected by Constitution Put Van Sk ki k Ijixt Nov 4, a family wag torn apart. Their sev«n*y«ar old son fell victim to a form of leukemia considered curable by modern medicine. Last week, that family suf fered another blow Both parents were charged w ith manslaughter and criminally negligent hotni ride. They were charged Ih*< ause they were exercising a constitutional right According to a Mar. I'l artir le in the Oregonian, Lloyd and Christina Havs. members of the Christian Scientist-esque ' (’hurt h of the First Born," allowed their child to die from a ‘curable’ form of leukemia because their religious beliefs do not allow for conventional med ical treatment Instead, church elders are called upon to anoint the child and to pray for healing Apparently, if the Havs want to believe that, according to their religion, those non-tradi tional methods will cure their child, it should be self-evident that is their constitutional right Unfortunately fur the Hays, in Oregon it is considered first degree manslaughter to with hold medical help bec ause of religious (reliefs. I thought this country protected freedom of religion. The First Amendment to the Constitution does say that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." Lloyd and Christina Hays belong to a religious faith that prohibits the employment of tra ditional western medicine. Sub scription to religious faith is anyone's constitutional right as the above amendment demon strates The parents were not negli gent, nor did they not can; ahoul their c hild's medical condition. They sought out others to treat their child's illness, as any par ent would The Hays < ailed upon the doctors they believed in’ their church elders and a devout faith in a cure That cure did not work, hut it was the best way those parents knew to treat their son Yet they are criminals, at cording to the state of Oregon This logic, may seem infalli ble, until we look at the age of the patient in question. Little Anthony Hays was only 7 years old If an adult refused a doc - tor's attention bet ause of his or her religious ties (Jim Henson died in this way) it is considered legally acceptable Why' An adult, bociiuse of more advanced age, has the judgment to make a decision of that magnitude. Most states' laws sin that chil dren don't hast* the skills to make life and death decisions for them wives In every other dec tsion m a child's life, a parent is consid ered best able to make such choices on the behalf of that child (schooling, clothing, diet, discipline, etc.). The court would uphold that as rational in almost every case except when it c omes to religion and medi cine I find it strange that in terms of religion, parents are not considered responsible for their child's decision. It is for this rea son that Lloyd and Christina Hays are lieing charged in a slate < ourt for making a religious fit* ision for their child. Ii could be said that the state of Oregon has attempted to impress traditional western Judeo-Christinn values on the Hays This type of cast* is not new to this country’s courts Doctors routinely obtain court orders to perform medical treatment on children whose parents’ beliefs do not allow for such treatment A manslaughter case of similar proportions is about to (a* tried in California in which a 4-year old boy died of meningitis because his parents tried unsuc cessfully to heal him through prayer Therefore, it would appear that it is not simply the over sight of the Oregon courts Mum courts of this c ountry are finding that even constitutional rights can lie overlooked in the interest of children I don’t agree with the beliefs of the Hays, but if they belong to a religion which unintentionally brought on the death of their child, that is their right. No parent wants their child to die and most parents would employ the txtst methods at their disposal to help cure that child If the options those parents are restricted to are limited to their religious beliefs, which are pro tected under the First Amend ment. then those parents should be allowed to make those choic es for their children as they would any other choice. Paul Van Sickle is a columnist for the Enwnild. ■ LETTERS POLICY The Oregon Daily Emerald will attempt to print all letters containing comments on topics of interest to the University community. letters to the editor must be limited to no more than 250 words, legible, signed and the identification of the writer must be verified when the letter is submitted The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for length or style.
