Page 4-Tuesday, July 17, 1979-The Michigan Daily Michigan Daily Eighty-nine Years of Editorial Freedom 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor. Ml. 48109 Vol. LXXXIX, No. 45-S News Phone: 764-0552 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Anti-abortionists strive to rob women of reproductive freedom They call themselves Right-to- Lifers and they are pro-life from the moment of conception on. Among their ranks are organizations such as the National Right to Life Committee i' Ansa.01,#Un s..onser',aue .w p C Gov stor Tt requ licer dum mat Ar this viol smal dfill last old deli- legi bar citiz TI com if th arez pan TI prai are hav resi the TI is c legi thou entr Co.'s had m othe sucr coul will ena pen (NRL), the onserv Caucus, the Ku Klux Kla John Birch Society, the munist Party, the America Party, opponents of gun co the Panama Canal Treaty the Equal Rights amend: They are supported and funded by the Roman Ca Hierarchy and the Mo ICHIGAN IS again proving it can benefit Church. from the PBB debacle. A bill now awaiting Milliken's signature makes shipping and In a nutshell, the pro-life age of toxic wastes more difficult to abuse. anti-abortion. Their numbe he legislation includes measures which influence have grown sfl re waste haulers and disposal firms to be 1973 Supreme Court ruling said each state may not pre used, and mandates that detailed records of woman from having an ab ip contents be maintained to track hazardous during the first six mon erials. pregnancy. In 1973 aborti nn Arbor should pay particular attention to leagalized in the United Sta bill, since it was shocked to discover two this ruling and the prolifer enraged ations in this area in the last year. Relatively l amounts of PBB were traced to the local lan- FUNDED BY religious m last fall, to city officials' dismay. And just the pro-lifers campaign, month, a firm contracted by the city to haul luncheons, and polish sludge to Ohio farmlands, was discovered propaganda style rhetoric. vering the loads in a Michigan township. This show pictures of aborted f slation may save officials from future em- to unsuspecting audiences. Y ~have bombed abortionc rassment as well as reducing safety hazards to They tell black women that ens. tion is a form of genocide he bill would also create a nine-member state whites. They say genetic mission with power to overrule local officials seling and birth defects re hey oppose proposed waste dumps. Affected breeuin abort desirabea a officials would have a minority vote on the society. el. his measure at first seems unfair, but sounds In the 1976 Hyde Amen ctical when itsimpetus is considered. Firms the pro-lifers scored a maj generating hazardous waste materials and tory against abortions. e no place to ship them. Local officials and Supreme Court ruled that .. . to each state to dete] dents rarely are anxious to invite dumping or whether or not it wants to p creation of such sites in their locale. Medicaid abortions. Most he need for regulation of toxic waste disposal don't. This was a setback ft lear and dire. It is fortunate that Michigan abortion legislation group islators are responding to this need even call themselves pro-choice choice demands that wome lgh disasters such as the one caused by PBB's the right to their own rep: ance to the food chain and Hooker Chemical tive freedom and choice lethal negligence in disposing of its wastes their own bodies. But whil to precede their action. once had power over the lichigan's legislation will serve as a model to lifers, the pro-choicers are tr states waiting for a leader in this area. Our ground. cess may mean safety and good health for In New York State the ntless others. It is hoped that public officials registration application ha enforce this legislation scrupulously, once cted. Surely no one can afford to experience or mit further abusive toxic waste disposal. W VAono1ltSTS. SUMMER EDITORIAL STAFF ELIZABETH SLOWIK Editor-in-Chief JUDY RAKOWSKY ......................... Editorial Director JOSHUA PECK ...................................Arts Editor A117ATER T'lir &P5). MARKPARRENT Supplement MITCH CANTOR SVPPSS 561 5) 1(x! 1OE Editors & W 6SAW6 P WW0 E es M~~~epMp Z965A1Vs) BUSINESS STAFF LIA CLBERSON ............... Business Manager ARLEN s ARYAN ...... .................... ... Sales Manager RrEWARRFN.. .. . I, Wi, Pa Manager BETH BASSLER...........................Classified Manager STA. lEltKIA...............N iiial a Adversinssg Manager vative n, the Com- n Nazi ontrol, , and ment. well- tholic rmon rs are rs and ce the which vent a ortion iths of n was tea by ,were onies, hold their They etuses .They linics. abor-. by the coun- search way of from dment or vic- The it is up ermine rovide states or pro- s, who . Pro- n have roduc- over e they topro- losing ballot d to be By MARION HALBERG amended to include the Right-to- Life Party. The NRLC has more than 11 million members in its 1800 chapters nationwide. Fifteen states support a constitutional amendment which would prohibit abortion in the United States. The pro-lifers pour money and sup- "Statistics prove and court cases demonstrate the horrors of life when a child is unwanted, un- loved, unadoptable, and abused." port into political campaigns and have had astounding results. But what does this all mean? AN ANTI-ABORTION amend- ment to the constitution would mean the imposition of religious doctrine on the American people. This violates the right to privacy and the separation of church and state. The pro-lifers say they feel life begins at fertilization and that everything must be done to main- tamn that life. But the pro-lifers are essentially hypocrites because they oppose abortion even if it is necessary to save a woman's life. Their all encom- passing anti-abortion stance makes no exceptions for the woman who is raped, the woman who cannot afford a child, the menopausal woman, the pre-teen and teen-age girl, the woman whose child will be stillborn or will die shortly after birth, or the woman who just does not want a child. STATISTICS PROVE and court cases demonstrate the horrors of life when a child is unwanted, unloved, unadoptable, and abused. But pro-lifers don't seem to care much about the quality of life. With all their monies and sup- porters, why don't the pro-lifers get to the crux of the problem even before abortion becomes an issue? Why don't they channel money into sex education programs and contraceptive in- formation and distribution? No. They refuse with more rhetoric like 'it is against the church' and 'the woman who uses an IUD is a murderer.' The pro-lifers oppose con- traception of all kinds, voluntary sterilization, family planning, birth defects research, am- niocentisis, and organizations like Planned Parenthood and the March of Dimes. The issue of abortion is without doubt an emotionally charged one. Women have been giving themselves abortions since the beginning of time. Modern technology makes abortion not only a feasible alternative to pregnancy, but even safer than carrying a child to term, in most cases. Religiousyand moral beliefs will always come into play, but the pro-choice stand-a woman's right to choose-must be upheld. No matter what the pro-lifers achieve, abortions will not stop. Rich women will go to Europe and the poor will return to the coat hanger. The next time you see a pro-lifer, ask them if they have any pictures of women who have died while performing abor- tions on themselves on their kit- chen tables. Marion Halberg covered women's issuesfor the Daily. Editorials which appear without a byline represent a concensus opinion of the Daily's editorial board. All other editorials, as well as cartoons, are the opinions of the individuals who submit them. IlRO Al 6RA " J V SOC cVso3S~u fl1ml6sX16X tA MCO. sOi. UIt 1 pta t w 4)6 4)15