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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 12, 2004)
TO THE EDITOR believe in fairy tale stories being propagan- dized by the rich, whose most famous words for posterity will be, “Bring ‘em on (but no body bags for my kids nor my cronies).” Sally Gandy Eugene IRRESPONSIBILITY After reading the (1/22) “Living Out” col- umn, I wonder if Sally Sheklow realizes she probably did more to damage her position on pro-choice. Readers are reminded how careless and ir- responsible sexual practices invariably lead to unwanted pregnancies. In Sally’s case she talks about her decision to cast off her birth control because of her lesbian lifestyle. Unfortunately, she chose to have relations with a male partner, which led to her “quest” for an abortion. With the country split between pro-choice and pro-life, some on both sides would be dis- turbed reading about her “quest back to Los Angeles” to get her abortion, presented as some type of an adventure. Selfishly, she does not mention the possibility of adoption. There is no suggestion on her part of poor judge- ment. When laws force pro-life Americans to help pay for the operation of abortion clinics through tax dollars, Sheklow’s flippant irre- sponsibility widens the gap between Americans on opposite sides of the issue. If Sheklow had wanted the child, she would sud- denly feel it was human and something worth nurturing. I suggest she use her life experience and her column to teach. Her credibility took a dive on this one. Steve Waleri Veneta TROUBLING TIMING I support legal access to abortion but I found Sheklow’s recent column (1/22) to be deeply troubling. Many people would agree that a newly-fertilized egg cell does not have a moral or philosophical “right” to life, especially when weighed against the inconveniences of preg- nancy. Many of the same people would agree that a newborn infant does have a moral and philosophical “right” to life, and that infanti- cide is never justified, even in light of the in- conveniences of raising a child. It seems hard to escape the conclusion that the moral harm an abortion inflicts increases with each hour that the new life grows in the womb. So to read, in a column entitled “Good Timing,” that Sheklow was able to finish off three more weeks of Spanish classes after dis- covering she was pregnant, before zipping home to the good old U.S. and the clean, safe, “welcoming arms” of the abortion clinic workers, was disturbing to say the least. And Sheklow’s comments about nationalism and patriotism were more apt than she may have realized. I’m coming to believe that those who wrap themselves in the sloganistic “pro-choice” banner are just as unthinking as those who wrap themselves in the American flag and allow the spilling of foreign blood for the convenience of the American con- sumer. More and more I’m finding the habitual use of the phrase “a woman’s right to choose” to be thoroughly nauseating — can’t we at least give the sacrificed life a token amount of respect by stating exactly what it is we feel we have the “right” to “choose” to do? From the ease with which these buzz-words are thrown about, one would think we were talking about something that is morally uncomplicated and logically obvious, such as the “right” to “choose” to take non-human life for sport or the “right” to “choose” to bear arms for self- defense against the criminal element and the powers of big government. Steven Kyte Corvallis GET REAL, GREENS My heart bleeds for the Greens. Lest we forget for one second that we have them to thank for the last four years of greed, disaster and mass murder that we call the Bush admin- istration. The Greens’ excuse for this is that they “wanted to prove we’re a viable party.” In other words, it was OK with them for people all over the world to die on the altar of their self-promotion. What they proved themselves to be is the biggest political nincompoops on the left, and a menace to society. People who sincerely want to bring a more representative diversity to electoral politics should start with realistic, achievable goals: such as running real candidates who are plan- ning to do the jobs they’re applying for, in local elections where they have a prayer of getting that job. And/or spend their time working for election reform; such as propor- tional representation that allows parties with 10 percent of the vote to get 10 percent of the seats. (That’s what won the legitimate Greens of Europe their success.) The Brown campaign of 1992 was a better example of a shot at changing our political landscape: It proved that a presidential cam- paign could completely boycott the corporate mega-bucks system and still persevere all the way to the national convention. But unlike the Greens, Jerry Brown then did the right thing, and stepped out of the way of the national race, to assure that this country would not end up with a goose-stepping fascist at the helm of the world’s most powerful military machine. Mr. Brown then went out and got himself the toughest job in politics: mayor of a small American city. Anyone with a kindergarten degree in electoral politics knows that when it comes time to cast votes, the number one rule is don’t split the left. Anyone who does so serves no tantra SACRED A passion for living! 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