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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2018
editor@dailyastorian.com
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OUR VIEW
Abortion is a woman’s choice
T
his week, instead of quietly
marking the 45th anniversary
of the passing of the Supreme
Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, citi-
zens around our nation are gearing up
to fight to protect it.
President Trump’s flip-flop from
supporting to opposing legal abortions
took place some while ago, although
he still would allow early termina-
tions in cases of rape and incest. His
emotionally charged pronouncements
Friday to demand changes in the law
were a thinly veiled attempt to solidify
his crumbling political base.
His decision to embrace the belief
that the federal government knows
what is best for any American woman
making this difficult choice is simply
disturbing. The revival of the clashing
rhetoric — over a battle that was set-
tled long ago — is simply a political
distraction just when his administra-
tion is under fire from all sides.
Abortion long has been a core issue
of his vice president, Mike Pence, who
brought many hardline evangelicals on
board to win the 2016 GOP campaign
with his emotionally charged rhetoric
against legal abortions and homosex-
ual rights.
The key word in any abortion dis-
cussion is “legal.” Women who want
to have an abortion will have the oper-
ation regardless of the law. The ques-
tion is whether this simple medi-
cal procedure is performed in safe,
hygienic conditions by trained profes-
sionals or in considerably less healthy
circumstances which pose a danger
to the women’s lives and long-term
health.
Roe v. Wade was supposed to settle
the matter. Both sides presented argu-
ments in a Texas case that went all the
way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The battle was fought. And the bat-
tle was won. In 1973, justices voted
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
Anti-abortion activists rally Friday on the National Mall during the annual March for Life
in Washington, D.C.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
President Donald Trump addresses the March of Life participants from the Rose Garden
of the White House.
7-2 in favor of a ruling that over-
turned state bans and legalized abor-
tion throughout the nation. They did
so on privacy grounds, saying govern-
ment intervention in a woman’s medi-
cal treatment was an unwarranted and
improper intervention in her right to
choose what happens to her body.
About 7 in 10 Americans (69 per-
cent) oppose overturning Roe V. Wade,
according to the Pew Research Center.
About 3 in 10 (28 percent) would like
to see it overturned. That split of pub-
lic opinion has held relatively steady
in recent decades.
Abortion opponents have worked
hard to impose obstacles to women
following through on their own
choices.
In states around the nation, such
groups have enlisted compliant leg-
islators to pass laws that deliberately
make it very difficult for a woman to
obtain a legal abortion. Legislation
has been introduced to restrict abor-
tion to circumstances of rape, or where
the woman’s life is in danger. All these
strategies seek to chip away at a wom-
an’s natural right to determine whether
and when she bears a child.
Roadblocks like waiting peri-
ods, mandatory counseling and other
restrictions reveal a concerted effort.
In recent years, states have sought to
insist that clinic doctors have creden-
tials from their local hospitals and
require clinics to make expensive mod-
ifications to their facilities. These latter
two requirements were introduced in a
Texas law in 2013, but struck down by
subsequent court rulings.
Trump’s speech Friday has already
been dissected for its mistruths. The
false comparisons with other nations
were easy to reveal, just like so many
of our chief executive’s other dubious
statements.
We simply do not need this. This
country has enough problems with
environmental threats, overwhelming
debt, crumbling infrastructure, hunger,
poverty and crime without revisiting a
fight won long ago.
One person summed up the issue
back in 1999.
It remains a statement with which
we totally agree.
“I want to see the abortion issue
removed from politics. I believe it is a
personal decision that should be left to
the women and their doctors.”
The speaker was Donald Trump.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Vote ‘no’ on Measure 101
on’t be misled by those slick TV ads say-
ing to vote “yes” on Measure 101 —
which is a health care sales tax that is bla-
tantly unfair to the working middle class,
schools and colleges. If this tax is voted in, it
will tax citizens’ health care premiums. It will
suck $25 million from Oregon school districts.
Moreover, approximately 11,700 Ore-
gon college students who buy their own
health care will pay more for tuition, because
the colleges themselves will be levied a tax
(which they will pass onto the students) for
the mandated student health care.
Medicaid providers will be taxed as well,
potentially reducing payments to doctors and
nurses who already work at cost to help Ore-
gon’s neediest citizens.
Guess who is exempt from this tax if it
passes? Large corporations, unions, and the
insurance companies. I suspect those flashy
ads are being paid for by them.
The Oregon Legislature had three other
alternatives to fund health care without rais-
ing taxes on health care services, but chose
Measure 101. Why? My guess is that any sur-
plus health care tax funds will be placed in the
general fund, which they have total discretion
to spend on whatever they wish — all on the
backs of hardworking citizens.
Vote “no” on Measure 101.
MARY ANN BRANDON
Warrenton
D
City should require
apartments above
Astoria Co-op
he Astoria Planning Commission meets at
6:30 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall. Asto-
ria Co-op’s new store is missing an opportu-
nity that the city would be remiss, if allowed.
Astoria needs more affordable housing for our
workforce and enough land correctly zoned to
provide such (“Clatsop County led northwest
Oregon in population growth,” The Daily Asto-
rian, Jan. 16).
Some in our city government favor sell-
ing our parks to provide places for more hous-
ing stock. In fact the city recently hired our past
wonderful planner, Rosemary Johnson, to eval-
uate the sale of four of our parks. Selling parks
is totally the opposite of what the 2016 park
T
public survey revealed (page 43, Astoria Parks
& Recreation Comprehensive Master Plan).
The city should require apartments above
the co-op, which our city zoning and height
limits would allow in this area. Their man-
ager even stated that their employees need such
housing.
The new store uses most of a parcel that is
currently zoned for multifamily units. If the
city approves this project — as proposed — on
land zoned for multi-family units, you can hold
them, and even the co-op partially responsible
when we read that our parks are being sold.
GEORGE (MICK) HAGUE
Co-op member/owner
Astoria
Walmart was right
to close Sam’s Club stores
am not a fan of Walmart, but, I’ve noticed
that local and national news sources, in their
anti-Trump campaign, only give half of the
story on Walmart.
Walmart, the retail box store, when given
a tax break, gave raises and bonuses to many
workers. Sam’s Club, also owned by Walmart,
has been failing, so they had to close 10 percent
of them and lay off, as any sane business does.
DICK DARBY
Astoria
I
President is planning brighter
future for Trumpville
did a basic compare and contrast with The
Daily Astorian’s Jan. 19 page one headline,
“North Coast reflects on Trump,” and the opin-
ion article, “Governor’s PERS solutions are
modest at best.”
The main thrust of the front page article
concerns the 41 percent of Clatsop County vot-
ers (Trumpville) who supported the president.
It would be an interesting follow-up article to
look into the opinions of the 59 percent of those
on the outskirts of Trumpville.
How many of these “outsiders” have 401Ks,
403Bs or Public Employees Retirement Sys-
tem (PERS) accounts? Have these 59 percen-
ters checked their investment portfolios lately?
Compare the president’s approach to Oregon’s
governor and her “modest at best” way of han-
I
LETTERS WELCOME
Letters should be exclusive to The
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name, address and phone number. You
will be contacted to confirm authorship.
All letters are subject to editing for
space, grammar, and, on occasion, fac-
tual accuracy. Only two letters per writer
are allowed each month.
Letters written in response to other
letter writers should address the issue
at hand and, rather than mentioning the
dling the biggest financial problem facing all
Oregonians — PERS.
President Trump passed a tax cut that has
provided bonuses for millions of workers and
incentives for businesses to re-invest in Amer-
ica. Apple has indicated it will pay $38 billion
in taxes to bring hundreds of billions back to
the U.S. economy.
I mention Apple by name as it’s listed as
PERS’ largest stock holding, with 2,970,029
shares valued on June 30 for $427,743,577
(Oregon PERS Comprehensive Annual Finan-
cial Report, page 93). Does the governor have
any interest in that “modest” concept of nearly
half a billion dollars? Can the governor entice
writer by name, should refer to the head-
line and date the letter was published.
Discourse should be civil and people
should be referred to in a respectful
manner. Letters in poor taste will not be
printed.
Send via email to editor@dailyas-
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97103.
business activity in the same manner President
Trump has shown to be fruitful?
Many, if not all, of Clatsop County’s retir-
ees, both present and future, have seen a boost
in their retirement funds due to tax reform by
the president. It seems Mr. Trump’s adminis-
tration is planning for a brighter future for resi-
dents of Trumpville.
I just wonder what the 59 percenters will
think when they have a choice between the
governor’s “modest at best” economic scheme,
and President Trump’s researched-based,
results-proven economic plan.
MATT JANES
Jeffers Gardens