Page 4-Saturday, July 12, 1980-The Michigan Daily
No reason to rejoice
over Hyde Amendment
a L X7 I mt mc
Timing poor for
a Detroit strike
THIRTEEN YEARS ago this month, the city of
Detroit hit rock bottom. After years of racial
tension, unemployment, urban decay, and the
degeneration of civic pride, the city erupted in a
riotous display of frustration and desperation. For-
ty-three people lay dead, damage was calculated in
the hundreds of millions, and the spirit of the
people and the reputation of the city was severely
scarred.
But since that time, the city has worked
feverishly to rid itself of its reputation as a boar-
ded-up, grimy, dangerous urban center. Neigh-
borhood groups emerged to instill pride in city
residents. Businesses, slowly but with increased
enthusiasm, have shifted their location from the
suburbs back into the city. And Mayor Young has
lobbied vigorously for federal funds to help rebuild
the city.
A new spirit has embraced Detroit, one that
displays itself in an enhanced estdem of the city in
the eyes of residents and visitors.
And now, after thirteen long, difficult years of
rebuilding, the city finally has its big opportunity to
show off, from the awesome reach and beauty of
the Plaza Hotel to the Hart Plaza and the quaint
trolleys. Thus, it is with great dismay that
Michiganders, and visitors from the United States
and abroad are audience to a highly unfortunate
labor dispute pitting the municipal workers, who
have watched the cost of living eat up their wages,
and the city, which is financially strapped. The
result is embarrassing to those proud Detroiters
who have been enthusiastically waiting to show off
their city when the eyes of the world will be on them.
for a brief period next week: heaps of garbage pile
higher, water from broken mains sits stagnant in
the streets, and the walkout continues.
We implore both sides to continue, with full con-
viction, to make fair concessions and reach an
agreement as early as possible. The city cannot af-
ford to offer such an embarrassing and sad display
in their front window, one that is neither indicative
of the city-worker relationship nor fair to the proud'
residents and employees of the Renaissance city.-
Editorial policies j
Unsigned editorials appearing on the
left side of this page represent a majority
opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board.
Letters and columns represent the
opinions of the individual author(s) and
do not necessarily reflect the attitudes or
beliefs of the Daily.
Cartoons frequently appear on both the
left and right side of the page; they do not
necessarily present Daily opinions. _
On June 30, five Supreme Court
Justices upheld the Hyde Amen-
dment, ruling that the federal
government does not have to pay
the cost of abortions for women
receiving Medicaid.
Citizens are of many opinions
about abortion and the wisdom of
using tax dollars to pay for them.
There is no reason for anyone to
rejoice over this court's decision,
however.
Those deeply opposed to abor-
tion on religious or moral groun-
ds have worked fervently to stop
federal funding for abortion in
the hope that it would
dramatically decrease the num-
ber of abortions. In fact, a Prin-
ceton study conducted by James
Trussel found that restrictions on
funding have not dramatically
decreased the number of abor-
tions provided to Medicaid
women. Approximately 80 per
cent of Medicaid women who
could have received abortions
prior to the Hyde Amendment
were able to obtain abortions af-
ter enactment of the restrictive
legislation.
Citizens wanting reductions in
government spending cannot
By Marjorie Crow
rejoice at a so-called savings of
$86 million Medicaid dollars
following enactment of the Hyde
Amendment. The medical costs
for the birth of those denied ac-
cess to abortions far exceed the
"savings." On-going welfare
costs incurred asa result of many
of those births make the supposed
saving of tax dollars even more
erroneous.
The fact that most welfare
women seeking abortions did pay
for them is also no cause for
rejoicing. Their use of their
meager resources, to avoid
bearing a child they were unable
to care and provide for was a
significant hardship to them-
selves and their children. While it
is evidence of their determination
and their resourcefulness, it is
hardly acceptable social policy.
Those sensitive to the needs of
children and families cannot
rejoice.
Incidents of loss of life through
suicide and to desperate women
reduced to self-induced and
illegal abortions are documented
by the National Center for
Disease Control. Though not
common, such results of restric-
ted access to abortion to one
segment of our population is no
cause for anyone to rejoice.
The politics of this issue have
extended beyond abortion-to the
politics of all family planning
services. The cruel hoax of our
current public policy is that at the
same time federal legislators
have reduced Medicaid women's
access to abortion, funding for
contraceptive services to other
low income women has been
reduced administratively by the
Department of Health and
Human Services (formerly
H.E.w.). To reduce women's ac-
cess to both abortion and con-
traception is an. intolerable
situation-a situation for which
we and future generations will
pay high and unnecessary finan-
cial and human costs.
Marjorie Crow is executive
director of Washtenaw
County League for Planned
Parenthood.
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LETTERS TO THE DAILY:
No coverage of artist
Tothe Daily:
On June 21 and 22, 1980, I had
the pleasure of attending the un-
veiling and dedication of the
murals painted by Ann Arbor ar-
tist, Jon Onye Lockard, for the
African American Heritage
Room in Manoogian Hall at
Wayne State University.
However, I was surprised and
disappointed not to find any writ-
ten or photographic coverage in
the Michigan Daily. Although the
event had been covered by Chan-
nels 2 and 4, the Detroit Free
Press, the Detroit News, and the
Michigan Chronicle. I was
surprised because, as a ten-year
resident of Ann Arbor, and as a
student at the University of
Michigan, I am aware that it is a'
practice of your publication to'
cover cultural events which
would be of interest toeyour
readers, especially when a
resident of Ann Arbor and a
member of the University com-
munity is involved. I might add
that this was an event attended
not only by Mayor Young of
Detroit, but by Justice G. Mennen
williams and his wife, Nancy,
emissaries from Ghana and
Nigeria, and notable artists}and
educators from Ann Arbor,
Detroit, and around the United
States.
I was disappointed for two
reasons. The first reason is that
the artist, a resident of Ann Arbor
for eighteen years, a key figure in
the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair
and an instructor at both the
University of Michigan and
Was ena -Community College,
life carefully researching and
painting this extraordinary
historical testimony of African
Americans only to be overlooked
by his hometown newspaper.
Secondly, had the public been
properly informed, many of your
readers could have shared in an
artistically and educationally
rewarding experience.
However, all ought not be lost
. . . the murals remain where they
originally hung, waiting to be
examined and pondered over by
the members of your reading
public, should they be made
aware of their opinions as they
deserve to be. And, please, give
your outstanding residents the
recognitionthey deserve!
-Sarah Olson
July 8
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