Seventy-Sixth Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNvIEsrrY OF MICHIGAN
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD N CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
Abortions: The Silent Slaughter Goes On
4
........,- - -
Where opinions Are Free, 420 MAYNARD ST., ANN ARBOR, MICH.
Truth Will Prevail
NEWS PHONE: 764-0552
Editorials rinted in The Michigan Daily express the indijdual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in ad reprints.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 1967
NIGHT EDITOR: MEREDITH EIKER
The Defense Budget
Descends on Capitol Hill
A WAR is about to be waged on Capitol
Hill over wars, the one in Viet Nam
and the one on poverty. The stakes are
budgetary cutbacks, and it looks as if
those who support a step up in the war
in Viet Nam have larger forces in their
favor.
The budget as proposed already favors
the war. Twenty-two billion dollars or 13
per cent of the budget is already devoted
to the war efforts, and $51 billion or 31
per cent to other military expenditures.
When we compare this to last year's budg-
et we see that Johnson asked for an in-
crease of $5.8 billion for the war effort,
as opposed to an increase .of.$2.6 billion
for other federal programs including the
war on poverty, efforts to curb air pollu-
tion, aid to higher education, and aid to
state and city governments for urban
problems.
IN HIS SPEECH outlining the budget,
Johnson was emphatic when referring
to the needs of the war. In fact he went
beyond mere support of the war, and
spoke of the fact that the United States
would "provide all the resources to com-
bat aggression," without asking that the
nations involved share in the costs, as he
does when insisting that nations must be
willing to work for our foreign aid.
United States troops in Viet Nam have
not been used to cooperate with the ef-
forts of the Vietnamese soldiers but to
replace the Vietnamese when the latter
becomes incapable of fighting the war.
In contrast to his attitude toward the
war, was the tone of his comments re-
garding domestic spending. He said, "In
our urgent domestic, programs we will
continue to press ahead, at a controlled
and reasoned pace." In this area he did
not emphasize all out spending, but em-
phasized the fact that he has cut back
on all possible waste.
DESPITE the President's emphasis on
military spending in the budget state-
ment, many members of Congress would
like to increase military appropriations
further.
Not only would this jeopardize domes-
tic programs such as the war on pover-
ty, and federal attempts to curb air pol-
lution that have barely gotten off the
ground, but it would set up a dangerous
set of future budget priorities.
The idea of allocating all resources
to the effort to stop aggression rings of
the blind "encirclement" policy of the
days of John Dulles. The feasibility of such
a program in the mid-sixties is question-
able. The Soviet Union is no longer seen
as the aggressive menace as it was during
the red scare days of the fifties. Events
in China, and the Sino-Soviet split in
general, show that the Moscow-Peking
axis is no longer a strong united source
of aggression and influence in Southeast
Asio. Such commitments merely echo the
paranoia of some State Department mem-
bers.
By CUTTING FUNDS from poverty pro-
grams to fight the war in Viet Nam,
Congress will be hurting that group of
society which can least afford it, the poor.
There have already been accusations
against the draft being prejudiced
against the poor, and to cut non-military
spending would merely add to their bur-
dens.
--RON KLEMPNER
By WARREN M. ZUCKER
AMERICAN abortion laws - de-
signed and defended as a hu-
mane protector of mother and
child - serve only the opposite
function. They condemn thousands
of women to needless death at the
hands of criminal butchers, and
perpetuate the senseless birth of
abnormal, unwanted or unloved
children.
Our cultural ethic restricts dis-
cussion of abortion, yet the prob-
lem has been growing increasingly
more critical until it is now urgent
that the inhumanity and ineffi-
ciency of current abortion laws be
remedied.
EXPERTS estimate that be-
tween one and two million abor-
tions are performed in this coun-
try every year (over 90 per cent
of these abortions are illegal). The
University of California School of
Public Health claims that from 5,-
000 to 10,000 women die every year
in this country as a result of
abortions.
Twenty per cent of all maternal
deaths in Michigan are caused by
botched abortions, while in Har-
lem this figure is closer to 50 per
cent. These figures are all, of
necessity, only estimates, butit is
obvious the size of the problem is
enormous.
In Ann Arbor an official at Uni-
versity Hospital reports that "there
is at least one victim of -an in-
complete abortion here at all
times." Last year, there were two
fatalities in the hospital caused
by criminal abortionists.
THE REASON for the crisis is
simple. State and federal laws are
archaic and inhumane. With the
exception of six states, abortions
are prohibited for any reason oth-
er than preserving the life of the
mother. The victim of rape, the
psychotic mother, the woman who
has contracted German measules
during the early months of preg-
nancy cannot legally be "relieved"
in any state much less the women
who desire abortions on social,
economic or eugenic grounds.
At an earlier time, abortions
were necessary to save the life of
women who had heart disease, dia-
betes, kidney trouble and other
physical conditions that made
pregnancy a dangerous affair. But
with modern medical advances the
number of abortions performed "to
preserve the life" of the woman
has become almost nonexistent.
Thus, state abortion laws, most of
which were written just after the
Civil War, have the effect of pro-
hibiting all abortions.
It is these archaic statutes that
have given rise to "the whole un-
derground movement of abortion
with its butchering quacks, mid-
wives and incompetent doctors."
There is also an open flouting of
the law by hospitals and doctors.
n a recent survey in California
the majority of hospitals reported
that they perform "therapeutic
abortions in certain situations not
:ecognized as legally justified un-
der the law of the state."
But not all -are equally able to
secure abortions. It is the rich-
not the poor, the white-not the
black, who are able to secure le-
gal and illegal abortions. Ten times
as manyabortions are performed
in private hospitals than in public
institutions.
The rich can pay the high cost
of a competent physician or a
trip to Puerto Rico, Scandinavia
or Japan. The poor can only go to
the neighborhood "murderer" or
rely on the crude methods of self-
induced abortion that are responsi-
ble for a high percentage of abor-
tion fatalities.
THE NEED for reform is clearly
avident. The American Law In-
stitute, after 10 years of study,
has proposed a model law for the
expansion of existing statutes. The
ALI proposed that abortion be le-
galized for three causes:
1) When continuation of preg-
nancy would gravely impair the
physical or mental health of the
mother;
2) When the child might be
born with grave physical or men-
tal defects, and
3) When pregnancy resulted
from rape, incest or other feloni-
ous intercourse.
These proposals are only a ter-
tative, modest step. They give r+n-
sent to abortions only for canses
with the most severe physical,
psychological and moral reasons.
Despite the conservative nature
of the proposed changes, the mod-
el code has only been discussed by
five legislatures since its writing
in 1959 and it has been adopted by
none.
THE FAILURE of even minimal
abortion law changes can be trac-
ed to a variety of sources, the
most important of which is the
Catholic church. Pope Pius XI in
1930 clearly stated the Church
position, "The life of each (moth-
er and fetus) is equally sacred and
no one has the power, not even
public authority, to destroy it."
Abortions for any reason are pro-
hibited. A noted Catholic treatise
says, "An innocent fetus an hour
old may not be directly killed to
save the lives of all the mothers
of the world."
The Catholic objection to any
form of abortion is based on the
belief that the fetus possesses a
soul from the moment of concep-
tion, and, thus, any destruction of
the fetus is an act of murder. They
say that abortion represents "the
slaughter of innocents" and that
the abortionist is "playing God."
Both medical and legal experts
have opposed this point of view.
They note that prior to the fourth
month of pregnancy-when most
abortions are performed-the fetus
Is not yet firmly implanted in the
womb, it has not developed "many
of the characteristics and recog-
nizable features of humanity" and
well before it is capable of those
movements which when felt by the
mother are called quickening.
The law has not recognized the
fetus' rights until quickening or
until birth. It must be noted that
prior to 1869 the Catholic Church
itself recognized as acceptable
abortions which occurr-1 within
40-80 days of or Acn
1UT O 'AATTER N-cw mis-
g'ded the Catholic position may
be, in a free society the mem-
bers of the Church may act as
they desire within the bounds of
the law. Each religion preserves
the full rights to its own inter-
petation of procreation. But
through extensive pressure on leg-
islators and public propaganda, the
Catholic Church has attempted
and succeeded in imposing its
morality upon the remainder of so-
ciety. As the ALI report notes,
"The criminal law cannot under-
take to draw the line where reli-
gion . . . would draw it. To use
criminal law against a substantial
body of decent opinion . . . is con-
trary to our basic traditions." Us-
ing religious power to influence
the course of legislation is a seri-
ous violation of the principle of
separation of church and state. It
is a sad commentary on religious
or moral codes if they must rely
on the law for enforcement.
YET the Catholic Church alone
is not responsible for the abhorrent
situation. Other faiths are engaged
in a conspiracy of silence. Only
few and infrequent protests have
come from members of the Prot-
estant and Jewish clergy. Others
have been content to allow the
Catholics to freely impose their
morality.
Also guilty are those legislators
who have permitted themselves to
be cowed by -the extensive Catholic
lobby or who have been afraid to
speak out on this touchy and emo-
tion-packed issue.
Doctors themselves are often
more concerned about saving lives
than in understanding the impli-
cations of their actions. Too fre-
quently the physician assumes that
his responsibility ends with the
physical cure, and is little con-
cerned about the psychological,
social and moral consequences of
his "cure."
THE PUBLIC at large must also
shoulder a portion of the blame.
There exists a great gap between
public morality and private ac-
tion. Although studies have shown
the public to be in favor of less
restrictive abortion laws, and, as
the statistics show, abortion is
widespread in all classes of so-
ciety, few publicly admit, much less
agitate for, more humane laws.
One must realize that the ALI
model code is only a meek com-
promise, one that will do little to
solve the problem of criminal abor-
tions in our country. To stop this
,mmoral slaughter, abortion for so-
cial and economic reasons must be
recognized. The woman should be
made responsible for the decision
to bear the child or not. To re-
fuse to end the pregnancy of a
woman who wishes it terminated
seems unfair to both woman and
child.
ULTIMATELY, the solution to
the abortion problem lies in a vast-
ly increased system of sex educa-
tion and contraceptive education.
Studies in Japan, where abortion
is available upon demand, have
indicated that intensixe sex educa-
tion programs lead to steeply de-
,ining rates of abortions perform-
ed.
Another solution to the problem
lies in the development of an oral
abortifacient. Researchers are ac-
tively working on the creation of
such a pill. The realization of their
goal will in effect make any legis-
lation meaningless.
But until such time as these
measures are a reality, legislation
must be formulated which will end
the needless murder and the tre-
mendous psychological torment
that comes with ar abnormal or
unwanted birth.
4
4f~
,4
Letters:Advisors No Threat to Fraternities
And Time Marches On
EVE. ON THE WATCH for a way to in-
crease our efficiency, we have at last
a genuine opportunity to save time. There
is a grave danger that the state of Michi-
gan may lose its position in the Eastern
Standard Time Zone.
Without immediate action, we shall lose
the time-honored distinction which links
us with Boston, New York and the cen-
ters of Eastern sophistication.
While the cocktail hour sparkles in
Washington, D.C., we shall be forced to
wait crudely at our desks. When the cur-
tain is raised at a great theatrical event
on Broadway, Michigan will be digesting
the remains of a TV dinner. And, these
are but the social consequences.
ACCORDING TO VARIOUS petitions and,
film-strips, now in circulation, a more
important consideration is the possible
loss of up to two entire hours, each day.
Multiplying these two hours by 365 days
per year we arrive at the total of 730
hours, or roughly 31 days. One month
will be missing-October, or even Decem-
ber. Christmas may vanish entirely.
At this rate, Michigan will lose 31
years out of each century-an appalling,
blow to automobile design. What is more,
the life-expectancy of each Michigan citi-
zen will be reduced by seven years, mak-
ing this state a sort of reverse Shangri-
La.
But, wait! There is yet another dire
proposal-the division of Michigan into
separate time zones, one for the upper
and one for the lower penuinsula. When
we consider all the problems such divi-
sions into North and South have aroused,
when we remember North Viet Nam and
our own Civil War, we cannot protest this
move too strongly. Before we know it, we
may face infiltration by Canadian guer-
rillas.
FORTUNATELY, the axe has not yet
fallen, and the cuckoo still rests as-
sured in his clock. But there is no time
to waste. The hour is struck, the moment
is at hand, when we must prove that
time is truly in our hearts and on our
minds.
-LIZ WISSMAN
To the Editor:
IN REGARD to the article on
graduate advisers in fraternity
houses which appeared in The
Daily yesterday. I would like to
add the following:
1) THE DIRECTION of the ar-
ticle was that it "will result in a
greater of degree of University
control over the lives of campus
fraternity members." This con-
jures of visions of an administra-
tive power grab, another example
of how a ruthless ominscent big
brother coerces another innocent
victim to subjugate its independ-
ent integrity and contaminate its
high ideals.
My objection to this suggestive
implication is that it is simply
false. The dutes of the graduate
student will be entirelydependent
upon the requests of the chapter
executive. It is the fraternity who
will furnish the compensation and
select the individual. If the Of-
fice of Student Organizations or
any other administrative official
could be of service in helping to
implement a program so much the
better.
But this would take place only
at the unsolicited request of the
fraternity executive. The Univer-
sity administration does not in-
tend to function in the everyday
operation of this plan except as a
sort of afterthought which would
be deemed appropriate by the
chapter.
2) THE HEREDITARY antag-
onism between the value objec-
tives of The Daily and their in-
terpretation of the fraternity ex-
perience has been somewhat ob-
vious. It is unfortunate that The
Daily does not choose to commend
the initiative and perception of in-
dividual chapters who volunteer to
participate in a new experience
with the same vehemence that the
witchhunt for conduct infractions
or discrimination is systematically
organized.
It is especially inappropriate
when the editor of The Daily ap-
pears before Fraternity Presidents'
Assembly to promise objectivity in
news coverage and then have one
of his assistants re-edit a story
which distorts the intension of a
program and to add irrelevant in-
formation, such as the intramural
suspension, which can only be de-
signed to discredit the fraternity
and thus reflect upon the mem-
bers of the chapter who appear
anxious and willing to experiment
with concepts that might lead to
greater enlightenment and per-
spectives.
To admit that the same tradi-
tions which governed an organiza-
tion 20 years ago might no longer
be applicable is a big step. And it
is the distortion and subsequent
discouragement of this receptive
atmosphere with which The Daily
must live. It might be some con-
solation for you to know that I
am informed of the article's writ-
er having called a chapter presi-
dent to apologize for certain
changes made in his story.
For my own part, I too must
apologize, for inrelating all the
details I may have unknowingly
mislead or over-emphasized a por-
tion which could be misconstrued.
But in no way can an article de-
tract from the real victims of this
oversight, the fraternities them-
selves. It takes initiative and cour-
ige for them to attempt some
new innovation. It takes guts to
try.
3) ANOTHER distortion was the
idea that I would extend the pro-
gram to all 47 undergraduate fra-
ternities on campus. I would add
that at present I cannot conceive
of this plan being relevant to all
groups. I repeat, it is strictly vol-
untary and would only be available
Uo other chapters at their request
and providing that the present
project meets with success. An
analysis and discussion will be
provided by the participating
chapters in the final issue of this
semester's Fraternity Commentary.
4) FINALLY, it has just now
come to my attention that Sigma
Alpha Epsilon, Phi Delta Theta,
and Alpha Tau Omega are perhaps
not the first to experiment with
having a graduate student reside
within the house. Sigma Chi and
Phi Kappa Tau have worked with
this idea in the past, although
there is some question as to wheth-
er the success or failure of their
programs can be considered rele-
vant to the system now being ini-
tiated.
-Douglas W. Marshall
Assistant to the Director,
Student Organizations
(The Daily apologizes for the
errors which appeared in its
story of Jan. 24 on the "live-
in" graduate student program
and hopes that Marshall's let-
ter helps to correct them. The
errors were due to confusion and
unintentional oversight, as he
implies in the latter part of his
third paragraph, rather than
some mythological "hereditary
antagonism between The Daily
and fraternities. -M.R.K.)
The Lieutenant
To the Editor:
WE, STUDENTS of the Univer-
sity of Michigan, respectfully
suggest that Detective Lieutenant
Staudenmeier receive the R. W.
Bunsen Edgar Award for meritor-
ious service in the defense of this
hamlet's statutes.
We feel that he has done more
in behalf of us than any man since
Torquemada charitably interceded
on the part of the Spanish Jews.
"Today's university students
...-tomorrow's leaders."
-Frederick W. Gilkey, '70
-Alan H, Neff, "70
-Robert T. Prouse, '70
-Tom Raboine, '69
-Robert Adler, '69L
-Rodney Ziegel, '70
-T. Andrew Stokes, "70
-William K. Johnston, '69
Carry Nation Returns
To the Editor:
Y COMPLIMENTS to The
Daily for its interview with Lt.
Staudenmeier of the Ann Arbor
police. I noticed his learned com-
ments on a wide range of subjects
ranging from politics ("some dic-
tator could come in and cancel the
pension plan"), history ("students
are going down the same path that
caused the Roman Empire to
fall"), biology (student intermin-
gling has caused a loss of heredi-
ty"), prize fight promotion ("I'd
like to get some of the men and
women on campus in a fight be-
cause I think the women would
vin"), not to mention subjects such
as art and the role of a univer-
-sity.
Lt. Staudenmeier is clearly a
highly educated and enlightened
man and I sleep a little better
every night knowing he's making
the rounds in his tennis shoes
discharging his messianic duty of
protecting my mind.
-Jon Hunt, '67
A Poem
To the Editor:
Y COUNTRY, waging an un-
just war, marches our armies
up the ink-and paper rivers-
I hear they are burning off the
military map the fresh rice
fields, green jungles, and live
men of provinces whose-names
I cannot spell.
AT HOME HERE, in the inclem-
ent winter,
I still teach our sons: "Make
grow two ears of corn where
one grew formerly."
"Set grain out on the snow for
sparrows."
"Grind no brother's face beneath
your foot."
MEN DO NOT remember what
they cannot use.
I am ashamed. Across ten thou-
sand miles the din of war is
coming in the window.
But, how shall they come pas-
sionately to death if we first
send them to lay waste utterly
all there is to die for?
-Caroline Hoffberg
Department of Psychology
Flaming Creatures
To the Editor:
YOU HAVE doubtlessly received
many letters objecting to yes-
terday's confiscation of the film
Flaming Creatures by the Ann Ar-
bor police.
And I suspect that most voice
the complaint that the film had
"redeeming social value," or at
least that the police didn't wait
long enough to see if it had.
But let's not kid ourselves.
WE ATTENDED that showing
for kicks and not for art. That the
film may have had some social
significance may have been hoped
for, but was decidedly of secon-
dary importance.
This makes the quesiton of "re-,
deeming social value" a bit irrel-
evant, and so it should be.
The real issue is whether it's
anybody's business to keep me
from seeing a dirty film.
-Berthold Berg
Sophomoric?
To the Editor:
YOUR BUDDING journalist Da-
vid Berson's sophomoric tirade
ii ainst the Monroe Street Jour-
nal smacks of shallowness, the
true mark of a mediocre writer.
While his capacity for discern-
ment is obviously low, he was
Lucky in guessing that the Journal
needs improvement. However,
when it came to berating the new
Hall of Fame his luck ran out.
With his sneering nose high in
the air he tripped over his own
big cloddish feet. His error in con-
fusing C. L. Hunt with Hunting-
ton Hartford shows his conde-
scendence for what it really is-
ignorance.
Ironically, Prof. Lewis, the tar-
get of Berson's pitiful venom, is
a man who, were he to vote in a
literary Hall of Fame, would, I
am sure, know the difference be-
tween Ben Jonson and Sam John-
son.
--John Forello, '67MBA
M1ore Obscenity!
To the Editor:
THE RECENT controversy con-
cerning the "alleged" porno-
;raphic movie "Flaming Creatures"
will not reach the proportions of
the previews of "I, a Woman" if
the Ann Arbor police force can
manage to shift their eyes from
campus activities to their home
base, at East Washington and
Fifth.
At last "Flaming Creatures"
demonstrated to some degree an
interest in experimental film tech-
nological methods and an intel-
lectual curiosity in the nature of
the,, human mind, while "I, a
Woman" indicates to the viewer a
sexual curiosity of physical pas-
sions.
-Drew Bogema, '68
LETTERS
All letters must be typed,
double-spaced and should be no
longer than 300 words. All let-
ters are subject to editing;
those over 300 words will gen-
erally be shortened.
11
-4
Ho Chi Mi, You Fox
THE RANKS of famous invitations open-
ed on Monday to greet a new and il-
lustrious member. Added to the already
imposing list of such well-known epistles
as Alice's invitation to the Tea Party,
Kennedy's invitation to Dallas, and Mary
Niehuss' invitation to speak at the Teach-
in, is Ho Chi Minh's suggestion that
President Johnson "be our guest . .. in
the palace of the former French gover-
nor general of Indochina."
For once, the inscrutable Orient has
come up with a scrutable message. The
insidious workings of Ho's muddled mind
are now clear as glass to the discerning
observer. The implications of his move
are obvious.
sumption that when Johnson said he
would talk "to anyone, anytime, anywhere
about peace," Hanoi was considered as
part of "anywhere." Obviously Johnson
meant anywhere on neutral territory,
such as Manila, or Honolulu, or the UN
building in New York. To suggest that
the President really meant that he would
go "anywhere" is clearly absurd.
But Ho's plot goes deeper than that.
The informed reader must ask himself
why the invitation was made at all. Was
it merely a propaganda ploy? Not likely.
Careful thought will reveal the motive
behind this action.
If the text of the invitation is read
carefully, one thing stands out. Johnson
was not invited merely to visit Hanoi,
but was specifically asked to sit in "the
palace of the former governor general
." There's the rub.
What Ho failed to mention in his in-
vitation was that the palace is over one
story high. This, of course, makes it a
prime target for U.S. bombers attacking
military outposts on the outskirts of Ha-
noi. He is attempting to make Lyndon
Johnson one of the unavoidable civilian
casualties of the Viet Nam conflict.
rwTiTT. n-i CP T ' 4, - arnvc in, + i nc nlinitl .
President Johnson, As You
Like Him
FIRST,
Ho's
THE READER will
Invitation is based
notice that
on the as-
The Daily is a member of the Associated Press and
Collegiate Press Service.
Subscription rate: $4.50 semester by carrier ($5 by
By NEIL SHISTER
ANN ARBOR is a long way from
Washington, but the view of
Lyndon Johnson-the picture in
the mind as Lippmann would call
it-is becoming increasingly clear.
I have never met him, never
talked to him, seen him only once
and then I was among a crowd of
about 5000 people. Yet the impres-
sion he made then was most vivid.
He struck me as a stale actor
horribly patronizing his audience
in an almost clownish manner.
It was a show for the audience,
a sham as the most powerful fig-
ure in the world appeared to be
enthralled with their local offi-
cials. But it was a show that didn't
sit well. It is hard to remember
what he said that afternoon, but
I can still see him beaming across
the platform enthusiastically clap-
ping his hands for somebody whose
name he had probably never heard
before.
SOMEHOW the man seems in-
appropriate for the position.
His knowledge of the intricacies
of legislation, his avowed ability
to persuade, his skill and joy in
fulfilling the "broker's role" are
Still the frustration lingers and
becomes increasingly vocal as the
pieces the President once put to-
gether in his 1964 victory splinter
off. They are splintering off, it
seems to me, for the same reason
Johnson applauded in Buffalo with
too much gusto. The man repre-
sents nothing symbolically except
success-he cheered in Buffalo not
because he was fond or even really
needed the officials, but because
he probably felt it was a good
technique for keeping everybody
happy.
that in their President. He must
be something greater than merely
an agent of consensus. It is worth-
while to note that Johnson has
failed to mobilize anything even
resembling a band of fervent ad-
mirers in the American electorate.
Indeed, he has been unable to even
hold a personal staff. Witness the
exits of Valenti, Reedy and most
notably Bill Moyers.
SO LYNDON BAINES Johnson
goes into his fourth year as Presi-
dent, facing a notentially hostile