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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 27, 2015)
OPINION 6A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015 The high price of fetal parts Founded in 1873 STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager S Schnitzer largess provides future chnitzer is a famous name in philanthropic circles, supporting Portland’s concert hall and other noteworthy causes in our area. Part of a recent gift by Arlene Schnitzer Foundation of $1 million ZLOO KHOS PDLQWDLQ WKH &RQÀXHQFH Project, the multi-state historic/ art installation anchored in Ilwaco, Wash.’s, Cape Disappointment State Park. Maya Lin, one of world’s most famous designers, envisioned &RQÀXHQFH DV D VRUW RI OLYLQJ PH- morial to the melding of Native American and newly arriving cultures during the era of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. “At this site, Lewis and Clark found what they were looking for: the point where the Columbia River PHHWV WKH PDMHVWLF 3DFL¿F 2FHDQ´ DFFRUGLQJ WR &RQÀXHQFH¶V ZHEVLWH “Their journey’s endpoint is where WKH&RQÀXHQFH3URMHFW¶VZRUNEHJDQ with an installation that draws togeth- er the site’s bay side and ocean side, interweaving the stories of the Corps of Discovery expedition and the Chinook people in a single, steadily XQIROGLQJH[SHULHQFH´ It is often the case that ideas for art installations and other public spaces are born in a rush of enthusiasm, but then become degraded by passage of time and lack of funds for the far less glamorous work of maintenance and preservation. Finding money for such ongoing efforts is one of the Holy Grails of philanthropic work. It is the success that turns a bright idea into long-lasting heritage. Enter Schnitzer, whose gift in hon- RURIKHUVRQ-RUGDQDQG&RQÀXHQFH supporter Thomas Lauderdale will help support not just the decade-old Maya Lin works at Cape D, but also ¿YHRWKHUVHOVHZKHUHLQ:DVKLQJWRQ DQG2UHJRQ%HVLGHVNLFNVWDUWLQJDQ endowment fund to care the projects, the Schnitzer money will be pivotal to 2017 completion of the potently sym- EROLF¿QDOHOHPHQWRIWKH&RQÀXHQFH Project adjacent to Celilo Falls — a key Indian landmark now submerged behind The Dalles Dam. Initially a mixed source of pride and consternation for people who live in the vicinity, the Cape D installation has matured and grown in accep- tance. Thanks to earlier fundraising efforts, a 12-ton block of polished and FDUYHGEDVDOWVHUYLQJDVD¿VKFOHDQ- LQJ VWDWLRQ RQ WKH %DNHU %D\ VKRUH has been re-etched this month, the words of the Chinook creation story now likely to withstand at least anoth- er couple decades of harsh storms and salmon guts. A trail makes an evoca- tive connection between the river and ocean. Five cedar driftwood columns surrounding a cedar tree trunk that ex- isted before Lewis and Clark arrived are reminiscent of European “wood KHQJH´ VWUXFWXUHV WUDFHV RI ZKLFK have been found thousands of years after their construction. No shoreline is ever permanent — QRZOHVVVRWKDQHYHU%XWLWLVJRRG to see sound stewardship of an im- portant artwork, even in this time of imminent change. How much local control is too much? T KH 2UHJRQ 6HFUHWDU\ RI 6WDWH¶V 2I¿FHKDVGHDOWDVHULRXVEORZWR an effort to put a ballot initiative de- signed to overturn laws pre-empting local control of matters regulated by the state. Though backers of the “Right to Local, Community Self- *RYHUQPHQW´LQLWLDWLYHDUHFRQVLGHU- ing their options, we hope this puts an end to this nonsense. Initiative backers hoped to be able to turn back state prohibitions on lo- cal governments banning genetically PRGL¿HG RUJDQLVPV DQG ORFDO UHJX- lation of pesticides. They also would like local jurisdictions to be able to regulate fracking, oil and gas devel- opment and coal exports. In part, backers seek to allow local jurisdictions “to enact local laws that protect health, safety, and welfare by: establishing the fundamental rights of natural, their communities, and nature; securing those rights using prohibitions and other means; and es- WDEOLVKLQJGH¿QLQJDOWHULQJRUHOLP- inating the rights, powers, privileges, immunities, or duties of corporations and other business entities operating or seeking to operate in the commu- nity, to prevent such rights, powers, privileges, immunities, or duties from interfering with such locally-enacted fundamental rights of natural persons, WKHLUFRPPXQLWLHVDQGQDWXUH´ %DFNHUVFROOHFWHGPRUHWKDQ signatures on their petitions, which gave them standing to receive a re- view for a ballot title — an important step in getting the measure on the 2016 ballot. %XWWKH6HFUHWDU\RI6WDWH¶V2I¿FH rejected the initiative. It says the mea- sure is too broad. Mary Geddry, a chief petitioner for the initiative, said that proponents haven’t yet decided on a course of action but disagree with the Secretary of State’s conclusions. She says her group isn’t going to roll over. “We’re talking about fundamental ULJKWV´VKHVDLG³&RPPXQLWLHVGRQ¶W have the right to say ‘no’ under the FXUUHQWV\VWHP´ 6KH¶V ULJKW WKH\ GRQ¶W %XW ZH suspect that she’s talking about things liberals don’t like. In addition to ban- QLQJ*02VDQGSHVWLFLGHXVHZH¶UH VXUHFHUWDLQ³SURJUHVVLYH´FRPPXQL- ties would write their own minimum wage laws, gun regulations and envi- ronmental rules. And if they decide they don’t like dry cleaners or meat packers, who knows. %XW RQFH SDVVHG WKH PHDVXUH would be sauce for the goose. 2I¿FLDOV LQ WKH PRUH UXUDO DQG largely conservative counties of (DVWHUQ 2UHJRQ PLJKW ZHOO GHFLGH WKDW 2UHJRQ¶V SURWHFWLRQV RQ ZROYHV don’t apply, or gun regulations they believe make people less safe and trample on personal freedoms, or state land-use restrictions that violate personal property rights. During the 1990s, there was a pro- posal to give county commissions the authority to regulate cougar hunting. This was tantamount to creating 36 wildlife management organizations DFURVV2UHJRQ7KHSODQGLHG In theory, it’s hard to argue against ³ORFDO´FRQWURO7KHQRWLRQKDVJUHDW GHPRFUDWLF DSSHDO %XW LQ UHDOLW\ WXUQLQJ HDFK RI 2UHJRQ¶V FRXQ- ties and 242 incorporated cities into an independent duchy would set up a patchwork of regulation that would PDNHHYHU\RQH¶VEXVLQHVVGLI¿FXOWLI not impossible. Remember. The advent sisted-suicide patients are euthanized without their of ultrasound has coincid- explicit consent. ed with a remarkable phe- The Planned Parent- QRPHQRQ2IDOOWKHPDMRU $6+,1*721 ² 3ODQQHG hood revelations will have social issues, abortion is Parenthood’s reaction to the an effect. Perhaps not on the only one that has not release of a clandestinely recorded government funding, giv- moved toward increasing conversation about the sale of fetal en the Democratic Party’s liberalization. While the body parts was highly revealing. Af- unwavering support and legalization of drugs, the ter protesting that it did nothing il- the president wishing it UHGH¿QLWLRQ RI PDUULDJH OHJDOLWDSRORJL]HGIRUWKH³WRQH´RI divine guidance. Planned and other assertions of in- Charles Parenthood might es- one of its senior directors. dividual autonomy have Krauthammer Her remarks lacked compassion, cape legal jeopardy as advanced, some with as- admitted Planned Parenthood Presi- well, given the loophole in the law tonishing rapidity, abortion attitudes dent Cecile Richards. As if Dr. Deb- banning the sale of fetal parts that have remained largely static. The orah Nucatola’s cold and casual dis- permits compensation for expenses country remains evenly split. cussion over salad and wine of how (shipping and handling, as it were). What will be the reaction to these %XW WKHVH UHYHODWLRQV ZLOO KDYH Planned Parenthood revelations? the fetal body can be crushed with forceps in a way that leaves valuable an effect on public perceptions. Just Right now, to try to deprive it of organs intact for sale is some kind as ultrasound altered feelings about taxpayer money. Citizens repelled RI SHUVRQDO LGLRV\QFUDV\ 2Q WKH abortion by showing the image, the by its activities should not be made contrary, it’s precisely the kind of movement, the vibrant living-ness FRPSOLFLWLQWKHP%XWZK\QRWVKLIW psychic numbing that occurs when of the developing infant in utero, the focus from the facilitator to the dealing daily with industrial scale so too, I suspect, will these Planned procedure itself? destruction of the growing, thriving, Parenthood revelations, by throwing The House has already passed a open the door to the backroom of the bill banning abortion after 20 weeks. recognizably human fetus. This was again demonstrated by clinic where that being is destroyed. That’s far more fruitful than trying It’s an ugly scene. The issue is to ban it entirely because, apart from the release this week of a second vid- HRVKRZLQJDQRWKHURI¿FLDOVSRUWLQJ less the sale of body parts than how the obvious constitutional issue, that same tone, casual and even joc- they are obtained. The nightmare there is no national consensus about ular, while haggling over the price of for abortion advocates is a spread- the moral status of the early embryo. ing consciousness There’s more agreement on the mor- an embryonic liver. of how exactly a al status of the later-term fetus. In- “If it’s still low, then ‘Thank you healthy fetus is deed, about two-thirds of Americans ZHFDQEXPSLWXS´ turned into a mass of ZRXOGEDQDERUWLRQDIWHUWKH¿UVWWUL- she joked, “I want a Planned marketable organs, mester. /DPERUJKLQL´ Abortion critics Parenthood. how, in the words There is more division about the of a senior Planned ¿UVWWULPHVWHUEHFDXVHRQH¶VYLHZVRI have long warned that the problem is God bless 3DUHQWKRRG RI¿FLDO the early embryo are largely a matter one might use “a less RIEHOLHIRIWHQUHOLJLRXVEHOLHI2QH¶V not only the obvious you.’ FUXQFK\ WHFKQLTXH´ view of the later-term fetus, howev- — what abortion — crush the head, er, is more a matter of what might be does to the fetus — — Barack Obama spare the organs — FDOOHG V\PSDWKHWLF LGHQWL¿FDWLRQ ² but also what it does address to Planned “to get more whole seeing the image of a recognizable to us. It’s the same Parenthood, April 26, 2013 VSHFLPHQV´ kind of desensitiza- human infant and, now, hearing from The effect on the the experts exactly what it takes to tion that has occurred in the Netherlands with another mass public is a two-step change in sen- ³WHUPLQDWH´LWVH[LVWHQFH exercise in life termination: assisted sibilities. First, when ultrasound re- The role of democratic politics is suicide. It began as a way to prevent veals how human the living fetus ap- to turn such moral sensibilities into the suffering of the terminally ill. It pears. Next, when people learn, as in law. This is a moment to press relent- has now become so widespread and these inadvertent admissions, what lessly for a national ban on late-term ZDQWRQWKDWRQH¿IWKRIDOO'XWFKDV- killing the fetus involves. abortions. By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER Washington Post Writers Group W The minimum-wage muddle By DAVID BROOKS New York Times News Service O nce upon a time there was a near consensus among econ- omists that raising the minimum wage was a bad idea. The market is really good at setting prices on things, whether it is apples or labor. If you raise the price on a worker, employers will hire few- er and you’ll end up hurting the people you meant to help. Then, in 1993, econ- omists Da- vid Card and Alan Krueger looked at fast- food restau- David rants in New Brooks Jersey and Pennsylvania and found that rais- ing the minimum wage gave peo- ple more income without hurting employment. A series of studies in %ULWDLQEXWWUHVVHGWKHVHILQGLQJV Today, raising the minimum wage is the central piece of the progressive economic agenda. 3UHVLGHQW%DUDFN2EDPDDQG+LO- lary Clinton champion it. Cities and states across the country have been moving to raise minimum wages to as high as $15 an hour — including New York state just this week. Some of my Democratic friends are arguing that forcing businesses to raise their minimum wage will not only help low-wage workers; it will actually boost profits, be- cause companies will better retain workers. Some economists have reported that there is no longer any evidence that raising wages will cost jobs. Unfortunately, that last claim is inaccurate. There are in fact many studies on each side of the issue. David Neumark of the University of California, Irvine, and William Wascher of the Federal Reserve have done their own studies and point to dozens of others showing significant job losses. Recently, Michael Wither and Jeffrey Clemens of the University of California, San Diego, looked at data from the 2007 federal minimum-wage hike and found that it reduced the national em- ployment-to-population ratio by 0.7 percentage points (which is actually a lot), and led to a 6-per- centage-point decrease in the like- lihood that a low-wage worker would have a job. %HFDXVH ORZZDJH ZRUNHUV get less work experience under a higher minimum-wage regime, they are less likely to transition to higher-wage jobs down the road. Mary Altaffer /AP Harley Perez, of Manhattan, who makes $8.75 and hour working at a McDonald’s, smiles during a rally after the New York Wage Board en- dorsed a proposal to set a $15 minimum wage for workers at fast-food restaurants with 30 or more locations, Wednesday in New York. The increase would be phased in over three years in New York City and over six years elsewhere. Wither and Clemens found that 59 percent believed that a rise to two years later, workers’ chances $9 an hour would make it “notice- of making $1,500 a month was re- DEO\KDUGHU´IRUSRRUSHRSOHWRILQG duced by 5 percentage points. ZRUN %XW D VOLJKW PDMRULW\ DOVR Many economists have point- thought the hike would be worth- ed out that as a poverty-fighting while for those in jobs. A study by measure the minimum wage is WKH &RQJUHVVLRQDO %XGJHW 2IILFH horribly targeted. A 2010 study found that a hike to $10.10 might E\-RVHSK6DELDDQG5LFKDUG%XU- lift 900,000 out of poverty but cost khauser found that only 11.3 per- roughly 500,000 jobs. cent of workers who would bene- My own guess is the econo- fit from raising the wage to $9.50 mists will never be able to give us an hour would come from poor a dispositive answer about who is households. An earlier study by hurt or helped. Economists have Sabia found that single mothers’ their biases and reality is too gran- employment dropped 6 percent ular. It depends on what region a for every 10 percent worker is in, wheth- increase in the min- er a particular job Economists can be easily done imum wage. A study by by a machine, what have their Thomas MaCurdy the mindset of his or of Stanford built on her employer is. biases the fact that there The best rea- are as many individ- and reality sonable guess is uals in high-income that a gradual hike is too families making in high-cost cities the minimum wage like Seattle or New granular. (teenagers) as in York will probably low-income fami- not produce mas- lies. MaCurdy found that the costs VLYH GLVORFDWLRQ %XW UDLVLQJ WKH of raising the wage are passed on wage to $15 in rural New York to consumers in the form of high- will cause large disruptions and er prices. Minimum-wage workers job losses. often work at places that dispro- The key intellectual upshot is portionately serve people down that, despite what some people the income scale. So raising the want you to believe, the laws of minimum wage is like a regres- economic gravity have not been sive consumption tax paid for by suspended. You can’t impose the poor to subsidize the wages costs on some without trade-offs of workers who are often middle for others. You can’t intervene class. in the market without unintend- What we have, in sum, is a very ed consequences. And here’s a complicated situation. If we do haunting fact that seems to make raise the minimum wage a lot of sense: Raising the minimum wage people will clearly benefit and a lot will produce winners among job of people will clearly be hurt. The holders from all backgrounds, but most objective and broadest bits it will disproportionately punish of evidence provoke ambivalence. those with the lowest skills, who 2QH VXUYH\ RI HFRQRPLVWV E\ WKH are least likely to be able to justify University of Chicago found that higher employment costs.
