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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 1990)
1990-1991 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT: Paid Political Advertisement ABORTION STOPS A BEATING HEART Eighth Week: “Years ago, while giving an anesthetic for a ruptured tubal pregnancy (at two months), I was handed what I believed to be the smallest human being ever seen. The embryo sac was intact and transparent. Within the sac was a tiny human male swimming extremely vigor ously in the amniotic fluid....This tiny human was perfectly developed with long, tapering fingers, feet and toes. It was almost transparent as regards the skin, and the delicate arter ies and veins were prominent to the ends o f the fingers. The baby was extremely alive and did not look at all like the photos and drawings of 'embryos’ which I have seen.” (Paul E. Rockwell, M.D.) The prehorn measures a little more than an inch long. Everything is now present that will he found in a fully developed adult. The heart has been beat ing for more than a month, the stomach produces digestive juices and the kid neys have begun to function. Forty mus cle sets begin to oper ate in conjunction with the nervous sys tem. The small body responds to touch and feels pain. Abortion Legal Through ALL Nine Months of Pregancy M any O regon ia n s are su r prised to learn that abortion is lega l from c o n c e p tio n to one moment before birth. One minute before birth destruction o f the baby is called “legal choice”, while one minute after birth, it is called homicide. Roe v. W ade, the Suprem e Court case which legalized abor tion in the U.S., said that in the 3rd trimester of “viability”, states cou ld p re v e n t a b o r tio n w hen th ere w as no th re a t to the “health” o f the mother. A related case, Doe v Bolton said: “the med ical judgment may be exercised in the light of all factors - physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age — relevant to the well-being o f the patient. All these factors may relate to h e a lth .” T h e re fo r e , the cou rt interpreted “health” so broadly that it became virtually impossi ble to protect the unborn child prior to birth. In 1986, the Senate Judiciary com m ittee concluded: “Thus the com m ittee observes that no significant legal barriers o f any kin d w h a tso e v e r ex ist today in the U.S. for a woman to obtain an abortion for any reason during any stage of her pregnan cy.” In other words, abortion is legal for no reason, or for any rea son through all nine months o f pregnancy. In a 1983 poll o f 802 O re g o n ia n s co n d u cte d by B ardsley and H aslach er, Inc., 65% o b je cte d to a b o rtio n on demand and 67% favored chang ing that law. Numerous polls tell us that most Americans believe that abortion should be limited for convenience reasons. What do you think? Vote YES on M easure 8. Convenience Abortions— from page 1 used as birth control. O f 13,309 abortions that year, 63% o f the women were using no other contra ceptive. One third of these had pre vious abortion(s). For the 28% using contraceptives, abortion became a secondary method of birth control. LATE TERM ABORTIONS (after 18 weeks gestation) How many are there? Of 1,588,000 abortions in 1985, one percent were done after 21 weeks— meaning 15,888 in that year.1 “The demand for late-term abortions is undiminished, and with the.grow ing popularity of genetic testing to screen for fetal defects midway through pregnancy, educated and affluent women are now joining the young, the poor and the uninformed who have been until now, the main groups seeking late abortions....A few, according to published reports, go a step further and make sure the baby is the sex they want before deciding to bear the child.r Researchers from Center for Disease control in Atlanta tell us: “Abortions performed during the second trimester continue to carry a markedly increased risk of death. For 1972 through 1985 the risk of death after abortions performed at 13-15 weeks was 4.6 times greater than that for abortions performed at 12 weeks or earlier. Women who had abortions perform ed at 16 weeks gestation or later had a 14.3 times greater risk of death than did those whose abortions were per formed in the first trimester.”’1 What about the baby? We know that the baby feels pain by 6 weeks gestation. Pictures of the baby with in the womb show attem pts to evade discomfort of sharp or heavy touch. Furtherm ore, saline and prostaglandin have been largely Fourth Month — 16 weeks She can make a tiny fist, get hic cups, suck her thumb and feel pain. Yet she can he put to death by abortion at any time until the day she is born. Saline aborted. 16 weeks. Held in gloved hand of reg istered nurse. Hospital. Atlanta, Georgia. Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony o f inno cence is drowned; The best lack all convic tion, while the worst Are full o f passionate intensity —W.B. Yeats. replaced by evacuation due to the large number of late term babies aborted alive. Evacuation dismem bers the baby so it cannot be born alive. Dr. Willard Cates, chief of abortion surveillance for Center for Disease Control in Atlanta esti mates 400-500 live abortion births each year in the U.S. Like maternal abortion deaths, these “births” are not publicized. Dr. Cates says that would be “like turning yourself into the IRS for an audit....No one is so naive as to think there is reliable voluntary reporting of live births in the present climate.”1 Dr. Bernard N athanson observes: “ the CDC lumps all post-viability abortions as at or after 21 weeks.’ Why do they not tell us exactly how late in preg nancy these abortion s were done?...Might this be embarrassing to abortion apologists?”8 Infants can now live when born prematurely at 21 weeks gestation or more. In short, a California pros ecutor says: “Babies that should live (after being aborted alive) are dying because callous physicians let them die.”7 CONCLUSION What kind o f people are we? Cruel? Selfish? Uncompassionate? Egocentric? Immoral? Sick? What kind of people perpetuate this grue some business. What kind of people stand by and allow it to happen? Supporters of Measure 8 can’t tolerate this gruesome business of tearing babies from the warm womb for mere convenience. The time has come to love babies, support girls and women in difficult pregnancy situations, and respect the dignity of human life, born and preborn. VOTE YES ON MEASURE 8! 1. “Winning With Choice: A Guide to Message and Strategy 1990" Voters for Choice PAC Wash D C. 20036. 2. “Abortion Used More For Birth Control". Susan Collins. Bango. Maine Daily News March 19, 1986. 3. Dr. J.C. Willke. “Abortion Questions & Answers". Hayes Pub. c. 1985. p. 76. 4. Liz JefTnes & Philadelphia Inquirer. “Abortion: The Dreaded Complication." Aug. 2. 1981, 5. H. Atrash.MD, H. Lawson Ml), J. Smith MS. “Legal Abortion in the U.S.: Trends & Mortality." Center for Disease Control. Atlanta, Georgia. 6. Dr Bernard N athanson. “ B ernadell T ech nical Bulletin." March 1990 PO Box 1897. N Y 10011 7. Nathanson. op. cit. Adoption Options LAU I1RN1 ABORTIONS m THE INCREASE Number of reported abortions 1575 1175 1577 Source 157* 1001 1001 Abortion Services m the United States. ____________________ U M IMS. - Tim Alan Guttmecher insùtute There is no such thing as an unwanted baby! You don’t need to rush into a final solution .... You can love and let live. There are many wonder ful people who will love and care for you and your baby. The National Committee on Adoption reports that there are over 3 mil lion couples waiting to adopt a child. On the average, couples must wait 3 years for a child. IN OREGON A dven tist A dop tion & Fam ily Services. 6040 SE Belmont, Portland, Oregon 232- 1211 Catholic Community Ser vices of Portland. 213 SE 12th Ave., Portland: 231-4866. Salem: 585-8720. Holt International Child rens’ Services. 1195 City View. Eugene, Oregon. 687-2202. P .L .A .N . (Plan Loving Adoptions Now) 203 East 3rd McMinnville, Oregon. 472-8452. Portland number: 242-1467. Lawyer Referral Service (free). Ask for a lawyer who spe cializes in adoption. Oregon: 1- 800-452-7636. WEBA (Women Exploited by Abortion) offers support for women who have had an abor tion. C on fid en tial. P ortland, Oregon. 775-5699.
