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.
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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
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