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About The print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1977-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 1985)
Monologue by Byington Poor Richard Abortion shouldn’t be illegalized By Shelley Ball Of The Print Hello tube .. Tjutr CHUXD ToS*Ÿ- \ ...CM you C ull J Mrce, lie UrrcH- A irteSlW, S 7kcK~. Few and far between. That phrase aptly describes the amount of letters to the editor that have been sent into 77ie Print this school year. So, in an attempt to get more of you out there to write to us, I thought I would write about a topic that is practically guaranteed to do just that. At least, this particular topic was responsible for hav ing two consecutive issues of The Print’s editorial pages fill ed with all sorts of emotional responses a few years back. Just what topic was powerful enough to generate such a massive response? Abortion. Community Corner By Fritz Wenzel If art can capture your attention through length robes. It is clear that the artist wants sheer beauty, intricate detail or striking color to convey the precious value of a child’s life. and make you hang around long enough to They above all must be saved. reap a meaning or a message, it’s purpose The environment and progress so often has been accomplished. If that message leads conflict with each other in today’s world that people to do great things that preserve a part it is easy to ignore the ongoing battle. The of humanity, then art has been justified. mural in Barlow pleads with us to not ignore The mural at the bottom of the wheel the battle. chair ramp in Barlow Hall got my attention The battle is waged daily at the Hanford the other day, and it’s message bears passing Nuclear Plant in Washington State. For in along. stance: This past week the employees at the The mural, which is rich in color and con plant discovered that their drinking water is trast, stretches about 25 feet wide and is contaminated. The few with the power did about 15 feet tall. It testifies to the ongoing not anticipate that this contamination would struggle between the environment and thé in occur, but in fact they now admit that it has dustrial progress of man. been contaminated for the last five years. This past December workers at Hanford The mural depicts two worlds; the in dustrial smokestacks, the bumper-to- who construct nuclear warheads for the bumper traffic that emanates from the Defense Department were being exposed to modern city, and the steel structures that excessive levels of radiation at the rate of mark what we call progress and success on more than one per work day. The few with one side, and the free-flowing stream, the the power did not anticipate that the ex fruited orchard and the bright sky that we posures would occur, but they withheld safe ty information for nearly a month, until the find in nature on the other side. The conflict of the mural is dramatized in government required them to report it. The next two years the federal govern the grayish-white human figures that are bat- - tling in the central foreground. Here a few ment will decide if this same Hanford site warriors with shields and clubs, apparently should be the storage place for all the defenders of Man’s progress, beat back nation’s nuclear waste. The few with the masses of unarmed, unclothed men, women power will promote the idea. What will the and children. It is a classic expression of the masses do? Will all those who live few with power forcing the many without downstream of Hanford, including the power to succumb to the force of develop students of this College willingly accept with apathy a possible cancer rate 10 times the ment. The masses are responding to this brutali national average as has been projected if the ty by retreating from the industrial side of Columbia River is contaminated? Will the mural to the side where nature peacefully deformed babies be the price the powerless reigns. In their exodus, they are putting a will pay? The barlow mural begs that these high priority on getting the chilldren off to a questions be asked. path where they can rim to a bright horizon If art can give us a message, it is suc full of hope. In fact, only the small cessful. If that message leads people to do children are running down this path, which great things that preserve a part of humani is protected by monk-like figures in full- ty, than art has been justified. Now that the word’s out, and instead handle the situa I’ll set some guidelines for the tion another way (adoption, letters: First and foremost, for example) should be ap let’s not get into a fight over plauded for their courage, but whether it’s right to be pro women who do decide to have choice or pro-life (whatever an abortion should be those terms mean). The respected for their decision in arguments for each side the same manner. haven’t changed much, so Those who support the idea there’s no sense in sounding of illegalizing abortion should like a broken record. be ashamed of themselves. What should be the concern What makes them think they of everyone is the possibility can impose their beliefs and that, following a game of feelings on others, that they musical chairs in the United can force people to do States Supreme Court, abor something simply because they disagree with their decisions? tion could be made illegal. While the chance of il legalizing abortion is unclear at the moment, the mere possibility of this happening should be enough to scare peo ple. By making abortion il legal, people would be allow ing the federal government to control the lives of women in deciding their fate concerning pregnancy. I’m not saying abortion should be or is the best way to handle an unexpected pregnancy- but I’m saying abortion should never be eliminated as an option, no matter what the circumstances are concerning the pregnancy. It is every person’s right to be allowed to make their own decisions, and to have a choice in making those decisions. Il legalizing abortion, however, is depriving women of their freedom to have a choice. Being pro-choice doesn’t have to mean one condones abortions for all unexpected pregnancies, but rather means supporting the right for abor tion to remain a legal, safe Op tion for women to have in deciding their fate. People should stop arguing over whether it’s right to be pro-life or pro-choice. In stead, they should consider whether they want the federal government telling them how to conduct their lives. Whether anti-abortionists like it or not, for some women abortion may be for them the best choice to make for their individual situation. Granted, there are other ways of handl ing an unexpected pregnancy, Orwell’s “1984” may have and abortion is definitely not passed, but illegalizing abortion for every woman. Women would bring frightening reality who would not under any cir to the phrase, “Big Brother is cumstances have an abortion watching you.” THE PRINT, a member of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Associa tion, aims to be a fair and impartial journalistic medium covering the campus community as thoroughly as possible. Opinions expressed in THE PRINT do not necessarily reflect those of the College administra tion, faculty, Associated Student Government or other members of THE PRINT. THE PRINT is a weekly publication distributed each Wednesday except for finals week. Clackamas Community College, 19600 S. Molalla Avenue, Oregon City, Oregon 97045. Office: Trailer B; telephone: 657-8400, ext. 309, 310 Editor In Chief: Shelley Ball News Editor: Fritz Wenzel Arts Editor: D. Dietrich Sports Editor: Rodney Fobert Copy Editor: Fritz Wenzel Photo Editor: Joel Miller Advertising Manager: Jack Griffith Cartoonist: Richard Byington Advertising Representative: Richard Byington Staff Writers: Shelley Davis, J. Jason, Amy LaBare, Julie Miller, Heather Wright Staff Photographers: Rodney Fobert, Jeff Meek, Mike Templeton, Daniel Wheeler Typesetter: Diana Blakley Advisor: Dana Spielmann y Page 2 Clackamas Community College
