FROM PAGE ONE
Saturday, May 7, 2022
tHE OBSErVEr — A7
COURT
Continued from Page A1
Church holds sacred, and the
church’s stance on abortion has
not changed in hundreds of years.
“The Catholic Church has
stood in opposition to abortion
since the 15th century,” Maxwell
continued. “It’s a mortal evil, you
can’t change what’s true.”
John Herman, a member of the
parish of Our Lady of the Valley
Catholic Church in La Grande,
echoed that sentiment.
“They can call it whatever they
want, but it’s still taking another
person’s life,” he said.
Maxwell and his church parish
are not alone. Anti-abortion pro-
tests are not uncommon in Eastern
Oregon, and in fact it was a major
concern Planned Parenthood
addressed in the press conference
May 3. Several questions revolved
around security measures at the
soon to be Ontario Clinic and how
the organization would address
suspected protesters.
Officials gave assurances they
have been diligently planning for
this for a while, but refused to
make an affirmative statement to
the question.
Oregon’s senior U.S. sen-
ator, Ron Wyden, in a statement
blasted the Republican party and
the draft.
“The Republican party has
dick Mason/The Observer, File
Union County activists express their opposition to abortion in downtown La Grande on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021, on the 48th
anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion across the United States. About 30
people took part in the demonstration at Fourth Street and Adams Avenue.
set the stage for a total erosion of
Americans’ constitutional rights,”
Wyden said. “They have made
clear they won’t stop at gutting the
right for a woman to make deci-
sions about her own body. Repub-
licans know that the majority of
Americans don’t support eroding
fundamental rights like pri-
vacy, so instead, they packed the
Supreme Court with right-wing
extremists willing to do their
ACTORS
at an assisted living center
in Provo.
Gray said that per-
forming at the assisted
living center was particu-
larly fulfilling because she
believes some of the seniors
living there were likely
coping with feelings of
isolation.
“It was nice to give a
smile to ease their loneli-
ness,” Gray said.
Continued from Page A1
Easing loneliness
The Opera House Youth
Actors were given the
chance to perform at Disn-
eyland based on the quality
of an audition video they
made, Hale said. Each
member of the group had
to raise $2,000 to go on the
tour.
The performance at Dis-
neyland came on the final
portion of a tour that began
with multiple stops in Utah,
where the Opera House
Youth Actors received a
tour of the new $84 mil-
lion Hale Center Theatre
in Sandy. The tour was
led by Dave Tinney, the
artistic director of the the-
ater, who also conducted
dirty work behind closed doors.”
Wyden said if this was a final
draft, the United States will be
one of a handful of countries
moving backward on women’s
rights and mark a “devastating
Imagination Campus
Elgin Opera House/Contributed photo
The Opera House Youth Actors receive a tour of the new $84 million
Hale Center Theatre in Sandy, Utah, in April 2022 while on their way
to perform at Disneyland in California.
a workshop for the Opera
House Youth Actors. Hale
credited Tinney with being
extremely generous with his
time.
The group also attended
a workshop put on by the
Brigham Young University
Young Ambassadors Utah
and performed for residents
The Opera House Youth
Actors next traveled to Ana-
heim where they attended a
Disney Broadway workshop
at Disneyland’s Imagination
Campus before performing
their medley of songs at the
outdoor theater. The work-
shop was led by Disney
producers and directors
who had the Opera House
loss of constitutionally guaranteed
bodily autonomy and privacy for
more than half of America.”
He stated abortion is health
care.
“Ending this protected and
established right — a right gen-
erations of women have now
known and that the overwhelming
majority of Americans support
— would harm the health, safety
and lives of millions of women
and families,” Wyden said. “This
is going to be the fight of our
lives, and we must use every tool
at our disposal to stop this attack
on constitutionally guaranteed
rights.”
According to Politico, Chief Jus-
tice John Roberts confirmed the
authenticity of the draft but stressed
the document “does not repre-
sent a decision by the Court or the
final position of any member on the
issues in the case.”
Politico also noted the draft
opinion includes “a 31-page
appendix of historical state abor-
tion laws ... replete with citations
to previous court decisions, books
and other authorities, and includes
118 footnotes.”
And the “appearances and
timing of this draft,” according to
Politico, “are consistent with court
practice.”
█
East Oregonian news editor
Phil Wright and The Observer reporter Dick
Mason contributed to this report.
Youth Actors performing
a scene from “Tangled,” a
musical adventure fantasy
comedy. Hale noted that his
group learned the music,
choreography and script
for the scene in less than
two hours. No surprisingly
the auditions for the “Tan-
gled” scene were conducted
at blistering pace, often in
only 15 to 20 seconds.
“They learned that
when you are an actor it is
important to be ready to
give a quick, strong audi-
tion,” Hale said.
Kaylie Davis said the
audition process was a
heartening for the Opera
House Youth Actors.
“Everybody was
cheering for each other
during the auditions,” Davis
said.
Elgin Opera House
Youth Actors member Lily
Troutman, a student at Cen-
tral Elementary School, said
experiences like the Imag-
ination Campus workshop
and the performance at the
Disney California Adven-
ture Park helped create
strong bonds among the
group during the tour.
“It was really exciting,”
she said. “We learned how
to trust each other while
performing.”
The members of the
Opera House Youth Actors
also got to enjoy rides at
the Disneyland complex, an
experience Hale said they
richly deserved.
“This is one of the
hardest working performing
arts groups in the country,”
Hale said. “It was nice to
see them play together after
a busy season.”
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