OPINION
6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 2017
Founded in 1873
DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor
LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager
JEREMY FELDMAN, Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
Trump is looking
backward on
U.S.-Cuba tourism
I
n a young presidency that is already middle-aged, last
week’s rollback of President Barack Obama’s opening
to Cuba was a reminder that this president is obsessively
reactive, determined to blot out a past that he has demonized.
In an initiative that has been deplored by the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce, President Donald Trump changed the rules on how
average Americans may visit Cuba.
Delivered in the last year of his presidency, Obama’s Cuban
diplomacy allowed Americans to visit Cuba on their own, with-
out being part of travel groups whose movements were tightly
defined and controlled by the Cuban regime. To go back to the
way it was is a strange choice. President Trump said he didn’t
want money going to the Cuban military, which controls many
hotels. But Obama’s looser travel rules allowed Americans to
spend money on nascent private enterprise in Cuba, to the tune
of millions of dollars in just four months.
If you set aside the Russian taint that infects the Trump
presidency and you look purely at what the president tries to
accomplish, it is a curious mix of initiatives that are not fully
formed and poorly thought out. This Cuba gambit fits the latter
category.
Reflecting on the Cuba deal in a Saturday editorial, The
New York Times argued that, “By now, Mr. Trump has per-
fected the art not of the deal but of dismantling what went
before.”
The columnist Timothy Egan made that point more colloqui-
ally when he described Trump as “a gasbag in a red cap pledg-
ing to turn back the clock.”
Republicans and Trump are wasting months trying to repeal
the Affordable Care Act — Obamacare. If they had invited
Democrats to help them improve the health care law, the job
could have been done more effectively and more easily. There
is recognition among Democrats in Congress — such as U.S.
Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon — that Obamacare needs fixes.
Except for a promised massive infrastructure program,
President Trump and the Republicans who control Congress
are largely focused on a backward-looking agenda.
In addition to the damage the Cuba revision inflicts on the
U.S. tourism business, the great setback is with the geopoli-
tics of Latin America. Like Trump’s baffling unwillingness to
renew America’s adherence to the bedrock of NATO — Article
V of the charter — this lane change on Cuba tells our southern
neighbors that what we say cannot be relied upon.
Trump is showing us that the translation between business
leadership and the presidency is blurry. But it is useful to point
out that business leaders in 2017 don’t lose time yearning for
the past. They know it is not coming back. They plan for a
future they know is fraught with uncertainty.
With so many challenges facing America — climate change,
cyber warfare and immigration among them — our president
should be looking forward, not looking over the tailgate.
Patriot Hall opening shows
all the signs of a success
he public got a first full glimpse of Clatsop Community
College’s newly redeveloped Patriot Hall on Friday when
the college opened the cavernous building for graduation.
The limited opening showed all the signs that the project’s cost
was money well spent.
The ceremony in the $16 million, 30,000-square-fot build-
ing occurred in its new 540-seat gymnasium and marked the first
time in more than 40 years the college conducted commence-
ment on campus. In addition to the gym, the building will fea-
ture several new studios and classrooms, expanded cardiovascu-
lar and weight training areas and a third-floor elevated running
track looking out over the picturesque Columbia River.
The redevelopment project began two years ago and was
funded equally by a countywide bond measure and state bond
money. While finishing touches are still being completed, the
building didn’t display any of the flaws that might typically
show up prior to a project being completed. After commence-
ment the three-story hall was closed for more work and will
reopen later this summer.
The college intends to have a pilot opening of the building
during the summer term with several physical education and
community courses, followed by a more robust fall-term open-
ing and a rededication of the building on Nov. 11, in honor of the
old Patriot Hall’s original dedication on the first Armistice Day
in 1921.
College President Christopher Breitmeyer says he wants the
new building to be a center of community engagement and that
it will be a valuable resource for years to come.
It has all the signs it will.
T
GUEST COLUMN
With Roe in jeopardy,
Oregon must take action
By FRANK GIBSON
Special to The Daily Astorian
T
he United States was founded
on the principles of individ-
ual liberty, personal privacy
and equality, and these principles
are meant to ensure
that each individual
is free to make
the most intimate
decisions without
government
interference and
discrimination.
As an attorney — but also as a
husband and a father — I support
comprehensive reproductive health
care for Oregonians, without unnec-
essary restriction. This includes
access to contraceptives, screening
for possible infections and cancer,
and counseling regarding all repro-
ductive health options.
One of the most intimate deci-
sions a woman ever faces is the
decision to choose adoption, end a
pregnancy or raise a child. These
deeply personal medical deci-
sions must be left up to a woman,
her family and her faith, with the
counsel of her doctor or health care
provider. Patients deserve accu-
rate information about all of their
options to make their own, fully
informed health care decisions.
In 1969, Oregon became one of
the first states to legalize abortion.
In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled in Roe v. Wade that a wom-
an’s personal medical decision-mak-
ing about pregnancy is a funda-
mental right. By a 7-2 majority, the
landmark decision affirmed that
the constitutionally protected right
to privacy includes every woman’s
ability to make her own personal
medical decisions, without the inter-
ference of politicians.
Since then, a recent Pew
Research Center poll confirms that
the majority of Americans believe
abortion should be legal in all or
most cases. About seven in 10
oppose overturning Roe v. Wade.
Nearly one-third of women in
the United States decide to end a
pregnancy, and every person’s per-
sonal decision about their preg-
nancy should be respected and val-
ued. No one can make that decision
for someone else.
Unfortunately, if Roe v. Wade
were overturned, there is nothing in
Oregon law that protects the right
to abortion. In the face of grow-
ing political attacks, the Reproduc-
tive Health Equity Act (House Bill
3391) addresses this problem, estab-
lishing the right to safe and legal
abortion in Oregon. This bill also
protects Oregonians against dis-
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
Abortion rights protesters rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in
Washington, D.C., in 2016.
crimination in the provision of
health care benefits and insurance
on the basis of race, color, national
origin, sex, sexual orientation, gen-
der identity, age or disability and
makes such discrimination a viola-
tion of state law.
The United
States is one
of the only
countries in
the world
where maternal
mortality rates
have risen.
It is important for me to protect
abortion access for future genera-
tions by codifying it clearly in our
statutes. No matter who occupies
the Oval Office or holds a major-
ity in Congress, it is vital to Ore-
gonians’ health and well-being that
abortion remain a safe and legal
medical procedure for a woman to
consider, if and when she needs it.
Prior to the Roe v. Wade deci-
sion, an estimated 1.2 million
women per year in the United States
were forced to resort to illegal
abortions despite the known haz-
ards, including unsanitary condi-
tions, incompetent treatment, infec-
tion, hemorrhage, disfiguration and
death. According to one estimate,
prior to 1973, as many as 5,000
women died each year in the United
States as a result of having an ille-
gal abortion.
In states like Texas, where pol-
iticians have placed restrictions on
access to abortion, we can already
see the devastating consequences.
Patients are traveling hundreds of
miles, crossing state lines and wait-
ing weeks to get an abortion, if they
can at all. Researchers estimate that
up to 240,000 Texans have tried to
end a pregnancy on their own with-
out medical assistance. This often
has a disproportionate impact on
communities of color, who already
face systemic barriers in accessing
quality health care.
Despite improvements in health
care — and an overwhelming global
trend in the other direction — the
United States is one of the only
countries in the world where mater-
nal mortality rates have risen. In
fact, according to a report in the
journal Obstetrics and Gynecology,
between 2010 and 2014, the mater-
nal mortality rate in Texas has dou-
bled. This is unacceptable.
In order to ensure abortion
remains safe and legal for future
generations, we must replace misin-
formation with facts and have hon-
est conversations about abortion
in Oregon today. Every Oregonian
deserves professional, nonjudgmen-
tal and fully confidential health care
— no matter who they are, where
they live, where they were born,
what they earn, how they’re insured
or how they identify their gender.
I believe deeply in the right of all
people to make their own personal
decisions about their bodies, their
families and their life’s path, with-
out unnecessary governmental inter-
ference. Abortion has been safe and
legal in the United States for nearly
45 years, and Oregonians refuse to
go backward.
Frank Gibson is a board member
for Planned Parenthood Advocates
of Oregon.
WHERE TO WRITE
• U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici
(D): 2338 Rayburn HOB, Washing-
ton, D.C., 20515. Phone: 202- 225-
0855. Fax 202-225-9497. District
office: 12725 SW Millikan Way,
Suite 220, Beaverton, OR 97005.
Phone: 503-469-6010. Fax 503-326-
5066. Web: bonamici.house. gov/
• U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D): 313
Hart Senate Office Building, Wash-
ington, D.C. 20510. Phone: 202-224-
3753. Web: www.merkley.senate.gov
• U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D):
221 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington, D.C., 20510. Phone:
202-224-5244. Web: www.wyden.
senate.gov
• State Rep. Brad Witt (D):
State Capitol, 900 Court Street N.E.,
H-373, Salem, OR 97301. Phone:
503-986-1431. Web: www.leg.state.
or.us/witt/ Email: rep.bradwitt@
state.or.us
• State Rep. Deborah Boone (D):
900 Court St. N.E., H-481, Salem,
OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1432.
Email: rep.deborah boone@state.
or.us District office: P.O. Box 928,
Cannon Beach, OR 97110. Phone:
503-986-1432. Web: www.leg.state.
or.us/ boone/
• State Sen. Betsy Johnson (D):
State Capitol, 900 Court St. N.E.,
S-314, Salem, OR 97301. Telephone:
503-986-1716. Email: sen.betsy john-
son@state.or.us Web: www.betsy-
johnson.com District Office: P.O.
Box R, Scappoose, OR 97056. Phone:
503-543-4046. Fax: 503-543-5296.
Astoria office phone: 503-338-1280.
• Port of Astoria: Executive
Director, 10 Pier 1 Suite 308, Asto-
ria, OR 97103. Phone: 503-741-3300.
Email: admin@portofastoria.com
• Clatsop County Board of Com-
missioners: c/o County Manager, 800
Exchange St., Suite 410, Astoria, OR
97103. Phone: 503-325-1000.