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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (July 27, 1995)
EDITORIALS. OPINIONS, LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Committee aborts funds for contraceptive care ■ OUR OPINION: f" , r cessation will increase poverty and pregnancy Those Contract-vvith* Amorit it m issors just i titling ... the wrong pro grams. The House Appropria lions Committee passed a latbor. Health, Human Ser vires and Kdut .ition appro priations liill on Tuesday that will eliminate fitlc* X federal funding for the nation's family planning t enters locally affecting lame Count s Publit Health and Planned Parenthood services in Grants Pass and Medtord The lull now moves to the floor of the House of Representatives for debate I h« I iile X program pro vides health and family planning servit «s to an esti mated 5 million women in morn than 5,200 service sites around the country. The majority of these women live below tin* poverty line and roly on those services for cunirat ep lion information, lower prif es for conlrnt eptive devices, breast exams, pap smears and other essential health services Slashing ibis funding will inevitably i ause an increase in unwanted pregnancies, abortions and death rates for the nation’s impoverished women. An attack on women's ser vices is not surprising i on sidering the conservative bent of the Congress and the Kopublii an drive to ■'reform" welfare and pre s ent all those promiscuous women from raking in big public-assistant e bucks. Women, thev sa\. need to take "persona! responsibili ty for their lives," t )f course, without a< < ess to an urate reprodiu live information or contracep tion.- responsibility means abstinence .1 highly unre alistic and unfair goal. Wealthier women contin ue to be able to exert ise reproductive control and minimize the number of their pregnant it's Their smaller families allow them to have careers and main tain a higher standard of liv ing As such, they also raise t hildren who ret eive the same information and can live educated and produi live 1 i ves Meanwhile, jioorer women continue to have more babies, lowering their standard of living anti lock ing them into a downward spiral that is difficult, tf not impossible, to escape. The i hildren, often unwanted, grow up in an environment that encourages hopeless ness These are the same children that later fill our welfare system, our hospi tals and our prisons. This widening gap not only seems act eptablo to conservatives, but prefer able. in part Imh ausc elimi nating Title X funding will make abortion less acessi I. ) .. If ill! of these propositions pass, including welfare reform, young women who hav e no at cess It* accurate sex edut ation or contracop tion. will Ixs orofl pregnant, be unable to terminate that pregnancy and be unable to receive free or low-priced prenatal and postnatal t are Tilt* lies! part is that if the baby is lucky enough to be born healthy, the mother will be unable to ret elve state assistance to feed and clothe that child, much less pay the medical bills Hut Title X money (annul lie used to perform or advo cate for abortions. The focus of the program is to prevent unwanted pregnancies At cording to Planned Par enthood statistics, the monies provided by Title X prevent 1.2 unwanted prog nancies each year, more than 250,000 of which involve sexually active teenagers, livery dollar of Title X funding saves the state an estimated four dol lars in welfare and other ser vices. Apparently, some i unser vatives think orphanages are a better investment. Thf> Orogcn 0*'r l -•«**« .% pufc*<V'*d M<xxl«i) through »*«OBy tr<* *chtxv )B» <*xJ Tu*«ia> ***3 Thu»ta*»t durtrtO ttm *umm*r fey !t\« Qnagon Oft** t fnartfcj Put**h>»«<3 Co Inc i%\ tha Un*v«w*it> o* Owgon. t wgen«. Oagon J 'hi l -n«w&*d opa* a*«w «nd0p#ndan8y o< tn* Onvw^ *»th ofhcawi at 300 ol tha l ft> Mem - ai U«*on and •» a ?r*#mt>er of ?h* Aaaocuitad ^om Th# imarateJ * pr»*ot<* property Th* vnimrfu lamoval or u*« ot papa** <» proMCUlabt# tditor-m Chtaf: Darv*J iNyn Associate Editor* Ma* ****>• I Ntardn Sa,u,'i,>4 Min v «j**y FWxry Saar Sm/m C)***gner -Vvf Ajt4-.ry Photographer (V■.an M*ndm. * *on Might Editor Cav'd Thom G*oar»l Manager J.xJy Had Advancing Or act or Mtr» Wa«te* Production Man agar M Rom Advartiftmg Ann* Amador, Lrw Y«n Bon. Juifsn Got** H*afh*r JohnttOn. Maty lyfenTfma Shanaman 0***4 had tw**, **»•• • »■»? u.r^#yv- Production Ran he-< ./••.» - .**••■ *«*< Rc**nd Bu*ma*» Kathy Cartoon® Suparviaor A«yy Gw>->*y Distribution ohn long. f <v<*<x R**oct» N«W*fOOf« Bw*in**» Ofttc* M* M12 Oftpiay Advertising Classified Advertising 346-3712 346 <4343 MV J08, MV M/C^mE MV WEALTH CARE ARE AU. INSEtUkJt mv place /m tvie middle CLASS IS is.J DAMSEfc, AND 7NE <iOv£RMMEMT /J/sCr MELP/W6 <1 7HEV SWOUtD C\JT VKtESr guT AjoT tAjODLE CiASS 5£$v//ces. Be eareCul wkat you wisK for department «irn lyiv *\4U ALHt6£y <9f COhAtvS THUt OPINION Special Olympians: no pity, just pride By Sargent Shriver In a Callup poll conducted recently to gauge the per ceptions of Americans a!winI S(wh iol Olympics, more than 95 percent of the respondents Indicated they believe individuals with men tal retardation "could benefit Irom involvement in sjwirts ” 1-hat was great news for us It reinforced similar findings published in Decemlwr by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. The Chronicle reported that its own independent poll had revealed that S|ns ial Olympic s is con sidered the "most credible” charity in the United States In July, more than 7.^00 ath letes gathered it! New Haven, C onn , for this year's largest and most rousing sports event, the 1985 Spec ial Olympics World t,allies Athletes from 14'i countries competed for 10 days in 19 summer sports, including aquatic s, Iwisketball. gymnastic s, and for the first time, golf, sailing, and the full length Olympic Marathon! They also saw a huge Parade of Tall Ships and display s, wit nessed opening and c losing ceremonies featuring world class television, radio and movie stars and other celebri ties They had the time of their lives Plus, for the first time ever, a silver dollar c oin honoring the achievements of individuals with mental retardation has been stnu k by the U S. mint! The coin features a portrait of Kunice Kennedy Shriver. who founded Spec ial Olympics in 19fi8. This coin is a tribute to the one million athletes around the world who are par ticipating in Special Olympics activities daily. Yet. there are those who still pity individuals with mental retardation But should anyone really find sorry for this group fig We shouldn't pity Special Olympic s athletes, bet ause they don't pity themselves They only ask us to treat them as norths human beings 33 of people? Let s fni e the facts Each and every one of us has got his or her own shortcom ings. deficiencies, flaws, hand icaps or blemishes Wo all must accept them, deal with them and move on. Hut Spei l.d ()iytnjiii \ athletes like all individuals with men tal retardation, often have a stigma attached to their handi cap, as if their handicap makes them hopeless forever liu' they are not. You can bet your last dollar that Special Olympii s athletes do not consider themsedves hopeless! Certainly not Andy latunard, a power lifter from Pennsylvania, who can lift four times more than his hotly weight. an achievement matched by only a handful of athletes in the entire world Not Anthony Doak, a long distance runner from New Zealand who runs the tradi tional Olympic Marathon in just over throe hours Not David Kit ker. a Special Olympics athlete who. like dozens of others enrolled in Special Olympics' Officials Program, has become a certi fied official. Nol Loretta Claiborne, a gift ed athlete and an even more impressive individual, who recently received an honorary Doctorate of Humanities degree from a Connecticut uni versity. the absolute first for any human being with mental retardation in academic histo ry' VVu shouldn't pity Special Olympics athletes, because they don't pity themselves They only ask us to treat thorn as worthy human (wings Ask anyone who has attend ed a Spec ial Olympic competi tion He err she will use these kind of words when describing the competitors determine tion. pride, exuberance, joy, perseverance But not self-pity. Some might still question whether events such as the World Games can truly serve as a celebration of the achieve ments of individuals with mental retardation. Those skeptic s should tome to the World Games The state of Connec ticut welcomed tens of thousands of spec tators to into New Haven, Hartford New London and dozens of other c ommunities Millions more tuned in to a multitude uf national and international broadcasts from NBC. ABC. ESPN and others who covered the event Watch the World Games, then decide for yourself. Seeing is believing. Sargent Shriveris the chairman and CEO of Special Olympic s International LETTERS POLICY The Oregon Daily Emerald will attempt to pent all letters containing comments on top ics ot interest to the University community Letters to the editor must be limited to no mole t' an 260 words, legible. s>gned and the identification ot the writer must be verified when the letter is submitted The Emerald reserves the right to edit any tetter tor length or style
