Opinion THE CLACKAMAS PRINT April 19,1989 Page 2 _____ __________________________________ Should abortion be legalized? Pro-Con____________________________ ______ Ruling on abortion should be examined Abortion a matter of freedom of choice Abortion. The mere sound of the word support the child. It’s also easy for a man to be against evokes different reactions from people across abortion, but it is not in his prerogative. It the United States and the world. Last Sunday 300,000 pro-choice march takes two people to conceive a child; if that child is unwanted by the woman it is not the ers marched through the streets of Wash man’s place to tell her she has to go ahead ington, D.C. and ended up staging a rally on and deliver that child. I could never tell a the steps of the Supreme woman that she cannot have an abortion. If Court They argued that I was a pregnant woman I seriously doubt Roe vs. Wade should that I would have an abortion, but since I not be over turned. Roe vs. Wade is the am a man and do not possess the proper equipment I don’t have the right to make landmark court case that Rick legalized abortion and the decision for those who do. Piller Fundamentally, the abortion issue is a solved the serious in question of individual rights. Does a woman fractions against hu have the right to decidewhat she will or will mankind that doctors who perform abor tions were committing before the case. Coat not do with her own body? Yes. Most religions have some concept of hanger abortions were stopped, but an having to answer for the deeds of the pres increase in the amount of abortions re ent life in the afterlife. If this is the case, sulted. Each year in the U.S. there are religious fanatics who desire for women to about 1 million abortions performed on conform with their beliefs should spend women whose average age is 24 and are less time trying to make those women single. About 4000 abortions are performed conform. After all, if abortion is wrong in each day in the U.S.; this is l/60th of the the eyes of their god, won’t women who worldwide amount. Today most abortions abort their pregnancies eventually pay the in the U.S. are elective; they are not truly price? It is awfully presumptuous of these necessary since the pregnancy is neither the fanatics to take on the role of some sort of result of a rape nor dangerous to the health of the mother. watchdog of their god’s laws. Elective abortions offer an unneces Reversal of Roe v. Wade would be a serious blow to the personal freedom of sary health risk to the mother. This sort of choice enjoyed by all. Opponents of abor an abortion, like all abortions, causes un tion are lucky we have such freedoms- due damage to the uterus of the woman on without them they wouldn’t be allowed to whom the procedure is performed. voice their opposition. Today the debate between the “Pro Choice” group apd the “Anti-Abortion/ There are no easy answers to the ques tions raised by abortion. When exactly is a fetus considered an independent human life, thus making abortion tantamount to murder? Is the termination of a condition leading to another life morally or ethically right? There is no way anyone can make such decisions for someone else, so the question really is, “Does any person Jim have the right “to Titus decide what another will do with her body?” The answer to this is a resounding NO. We live in a country that guarantees each one of its citizens the right to choose where they want to live, what occupation they want' to pursue, and even what god they want to believe in. It is therefore wrong for anyone to decide, based on their own ethical, moral, and religious beliefs, what another person can or cannot do. Fervent religious believers are basi cally intolerant of the beliefs of others, if such beliefs are contrary to their own. The decision whether or not to abort an un wanted pregnancy is one a woman should make for herself; those who are opposed to abortion offer no solutions to the hard ships faced by such women should they decide not to abort. It’s easy for a person to tell a woman she should go ahead with a pregnancy when that person won’t have to PRO CON Veterans1 transition needs to be reviewed There is only one word to describe the imminent switch of Veterans’ Specialist Pat Fontaine and Information Specialist Betty Reynolds: bad. The idea of ensuring that a high level of service to vets is maintained by training more than one person to do the job is a good one, but the haste of the whole affair is illogical Why not wait until the summer, when there are considerably less veterans to deal with (and less possibility of prob lems arising)? And why, above all, not keep the veterans that attend this school ap prised of situations that concern them and their economic livelihood? The fact is that most vets receiving tuition assistance from the government are given considerably more money than the $230 per term it takes to attend Clackamas. The remainder of this money is used for things such as textbooks, food, rent, and car payments. If problems arise that delay as sistance checks (and they inevitably will- the job of veterans’ specialist is inherently difficult due to the huge amount of paper work involved), vets could be faced with financial problems that are unnecessary. The last thing a full-time college student needs to worryabout is a packofbill collec tors threatening to repossess his means of getting to school. There are many questions concerning the changeover that Director of Counsel ing Lee Turpin has not answered to the satisfaction of affected veterans. Why the rush? Why not train more people to do the Pro-Life” group is heating up. I feel, maybe unduly, that the law that worked so hard and is working so hard to protect the rights of women everywhere has created a climate where the woman is left out in the cold. Both groups use the women as pawns in a great game to control each other. The ‘Tro- Life” group uses forms of terrorism to scare women from the clinics where the abor tions are performed. Society has ingrained into the minds of young people today that if a girl gets pregnant her life from that point on will be terrible, and the only solu tion would be to choose to abort the baby. When was the choice made though? Was it not in fact made when the couple decided to engage in sexual intercourse? If the man is not mature enough to use a condom then it is up to the woman to protect herself from the unwanted preg nancy. There is not a one hundred percent sure way of protecting oneself from a preg nancy, but abortion should not be used as a form of retroactive birth control. I expressed my views here because I feel very strongly about this issue. I was adopted, and I feel that maybe if my bio logical mother had thought about abortion I wouldn’t be here writing these words for all of you to read. Since I am a man some feel that Ishouldn’t comment on this issue, since it is a “women’s issue.” I think that it would be much worse for my comment to go unheard, because in this great country that we live any uninformed choice is a bad choice. Editorial Policy job (so the college won’t get “caught short” if Fontaine leaves, which is Turpin’s ra tionale for the change) but leave Fontaine in her current position? And what happens when Fontaine’s replacement, Betty Rey nolds, retires in December? The whole process of training a new veterans’ special ist will have to be repeated after Reynolds’ retirement. The whole affair smacks of political infighting and petty personal differences. What Turpin needs to remember is that he is in a service-oriented position, and he should not let his personal differences in trude on an important service to a segment of the college’s student body. The military veterans of Clackamas Community College need to be involved in decisions that directly affect them. The reorganization of the Veterans’ Office should be postponed and a review conducted that involves all concerned. Perhaps if there was a veterans representative position cre ated as part of the Associated Student Government and elected by the veterans themselves such situations would not oc cur. Veterans need a voice on this campus that is sympathetic to their needs and knowledgeable of their unique situations. Clackamas Community College is not part of the military, and veterans attending the college should not be subject to the same dictatorial controls they experienced in government service. Military veterans gave loyal, sincere service to their country and should expect no less in return. The Clackamas Print welcomes Letters to the Editor. Such letters must be signed or will not be printed. Letters must not exceed 250 words and should be typewritten or neatly printed. Letters can be turned into The Clackamas Printoffices in Trailer B North of Randall Hall. The dadramas Print reserves the right to edit Letters to. the Editor for grammar, obscenities and libelous material. Letters to the Editor must be turned in Friday in order to be printed in the following Wednesday’s edition. ~ The Clackamas Print The Clackamas Print aims to be a fair and impartial newspaper covering the college community. Opinions expressed in The Clacka mas Print do not necessarily re flect those of the college admini stration, faculty or Associated Student Government. Articlesand information printed in this news paper can be re-printed only with written permission from the Clackamas Community College Student Publications Office. The Clackamas Print is a weekly pub lication distributed every Wed nesday except for finals week. Clackamas Community College, 19600 S. Molalla Avenue, Ore gon City, Oregon 97045. Office: Trailer B. Telephone: 657-6958, ext 309 (office), 577 (production) and 578 (advertising). Editor-In-Chief: Christopher L. Curran Managing/Feature Editor: Caree Hussey Copyeditors: Jim Titus Roseann Wentworth News Editor: Briane C. Dotson Photo Editor: Julie Church Sports Editor: Mark A. Borrelli Reporters: Staci Beard Amber Cordry Dan Fulton Tim Jones Rick Piller Angela Wilson Photographers: Jillian Porter Tara Powers TimZivncy Columnist: Joseph Patrick Lee Editorial Cartoonist: BobSwan Business Managers: Angela Wilson Rick Piller “Rhapsody” Editor: Michelle Walch Advisor: Linda Vogt inches 1 39.12 13.24 15.07 2 65.43 18.11 18.72 3 49.87 -4.34 -22.29 4 44.26 -13.80 22.85 5 55.56 9.82 -24.49 D50 Illuminant, 2 degree observer 6 70.82 -33.43 -0.35 7 63.51 34.26 59.60 8 39.92 11.81 -46.07 9 52.24 48.55 18.51 10 97.06 -0.40 1.13 11(A) 92.02 -0.60 0.23 12 87.34 -0.75 0.21 13 82.14 -1.06 0.43 14 72.06 -1.19 0.28 15 62.15 -1.07 0.19