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
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■ 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.
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