advertisements ¿|||||||||||19|3||JE|$||19|61|16|||B|616L818181191E11$13161

Cosmic Comix

#22 Colonial Arcade

Alternative Publications

and Newsstand

Cards

Magazines

Comix

Newspapers

6th & Euclid Downtown

Arti Useless therwise Calendars

696.0710

Your own private counselor

is assigned to you to Inform, support, and be with you throughout the abortion tubal ligation procedure. Laboratory tests, birth control information and follow-up visit(s) are provided at one moderate fee.

CALL (216)368-1000

A telephone counselor will help you.

PRETERM

A tax-exempt mon-profit licensed medical facility

10960 Carnegie Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44106.

Artworks

? and or?

various manifestations of rendered representation my eyes or yours

Melissa Craig 241-4574

the food Project

1807 Coventry Rd. 932-0482

Open 10-7 Mon. Sat.

NATURAL FOODS

Page 14/June. 1978/What She Wants

Abortion (continued from page 1)

is an invasion of the privacy of the doctor-patient relationship.

Mandatory counseling is both an attempt to in doctrinate a woman seeking an abortion and an attempt to intimidate her into changing her mind. Nothing is mentioned of the relative safety of early pregnancy termination versus childbearing, or the problems and commitment of childrearing. But anti-abortion groups justify this invasion of privacy on the basis that 10% of women who do have abortions later regret their decisions. One physician put this in perspective by comparing this to the 40% of those who marry who later change their minds. But this would not imply that the government should prevent them from doing so. A free society allows people to make free decisions.

Despite personal expectations to the contrary, the meeting room never became crowded. Why did so few feminists attend?

One theme which apparently affected attendance at the hearing is the thought that responsibility for the maintenance of abortion rights rests with women who have the greatest chance of desiring an abortion, that is, women who are currently relating to men. But political action to maintain abortion rights needs to be seen as intrinsically connected to all women's struggles.

It goes without saying that solidarity among women invites us all to mutual support around concerns placed by the patricarchy on but one group of women. And no woman needs to be reminded that is

the threat of rape and resultant pregnancy

ever-present.

All women should actively support this issue as the anti-abortion ideology constitutes a direct chal: lenge to women whose lives exclude relationships with men, and women working to change women's roles in any way. The logical conclusion and implicit desire of anti-abortion forces is the maintenance of the traditional patriarchal role for women. This goal is expressed, for instance, in the assertions that the state has "a legitimate interest" (i.e., legal right) in promoting childbearing, and that a woman requires assistance (i.e., counseling) in making decisions which affect only her body and destiny.

The desire of the anti-abortion movement is to disempower women, if implemented, would assure that women's lives would be balanced against their ability to hold the goodwill of men -in the family, on the job, and in the law. As all rights of women are endangered when a woman's right to choose abortion is compromised, all women find responsibility and self-interest in preventing such a denial.

For the future, the anti-abortion forces will continue pressure on Cleveland Heights Council. Their area-wide strategy seems to be a city-by-city march through the suburbs, gradually encircling and forcing Cleveland itself to change its laws regulating access to abortion rights. The anti-abortion group has already conducted a car caravan through the city and a write-in campaign to city officials to promote their repressive views. A petition, with several thousand signatures, is now being circulated.

The position of City Council is difficult to ascertain. The comments by some Council members at the open meeting seem to indicate that they favored the current ordinance. Yet the Law Department is continuing its evaluation of the law itself, "protective" amendments, and community opinión. As the Heights ordinance is based on the "Abortion Clinic Regulations" of the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, they may receive pressure to alter their directives.

As decisions of the Cleveland Heights Council will be affected by community response, a show of strength by pro-choice supporters is crucial. Letters should be writen to members of City Council and the City staff in support of the current ordinance or its liberalization, and may also address specific programs or considerations. Write: (1) The Editor, The Sun Press, 12412 Cedar Road, Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44106; and (2) to the Members of Council, City Hall, 2953 Mayfield Road, Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44118, 321-0100, or 3) Donald Barkley, Acting City Manager, and/or

Jules Koach, Acting Law Director, at the City Hall address. The members of Council are: Marjorie Wright, Mayor; Robert H. Arnold, Chairperson of the Health and Safety Committee; Alfred Connors; Patricia Blakeley; John J. Boyle; Lee A. Chilcote: and Robert Weigand.

Editors' Note: Cleveland Heights City Council issued a permit to Omni Health Center to begin performing abortions on May 17, 1978. According to Acting City Manager Donald K. Barclay, the permit was issued following thorough inspections of the facility by the city's health and building depart ments: "They met the laws. They had a legal right to the permit...."

At this point, letters commending Cleveland Heights City Council's decision would be helpful. Anti-abortion groups are planning picket demonstra. tions outside Severance Medical Building starting May 13.

--Janna Dieckmann

Gold Flower (continued from page 5)

The amount of anger that builds among those of us who put ourselves in the position to hear the stories of women who are victims of violence is too large and too intense to be adequately described in print. We often call it an "occupational hazard." But acceptable outlets for the enormity of the emotions we feel are few and we are in constant search of new ones. With that in mind, I share with anyone who takes the trouble to read this far that my first reaction to Wadud's statement was joy!

That feeling was instantly dampened by the reality of the situation and my concern for her. Wadud's rapist had called her at work and poured a torrent of abuse and anger on her. He told her, among other things, that he should have killed her when he had the chance. Not long after that he came to the bar where she was working. She was on her way out the front door when she saw him stalking toward her.

"Oh, no," she thought, "not again." Then before he could do anything to her, Wadud grabbed a gun from her purse and shot him. She then ran inside and called the police for the second time in as many days. Later, she said that when she saw him coming toward her, it was one of the most frightening moments in her entire life.

When she called me, Wadud was on her way to the police station to make a statement, at their request, without a lawyer. She hadn't been charged with anything because the man was rushed to the hospital and was still alive. He died six weeks later and at that time she was charged with murder.

Concerned about her ability to get a fair trial, Wadud accepted a plea of guilty to negligent homicide. Judge Sam Zingale quietly gave her credit for the day she spent in jail when she was charged and suspended the rest of the sentence and the fine. Wadud is now on one year's probation and must pay about $60 in court costs.

Like Judge Griffin, Zingale did not mention the facts of the case. While his approach to the sentencing carried with it the implication that he was able to understand a woman's need to be able to defend herself against violence, he made no statement of any kind.

As in the situations of Kathy Thomas and Barbara Hanzell, if anyone in the justice system had that understanding, Wadud never would have been charged at all. Men are allowed much greater leniency in the courts when they are in a position of feeling they have to resort to violence to defend either themselves or their property. Men who kill in self-defense are often looked at as heroes, while women are more likely to find themselves sent to a mental hospital or to jail. Also, women who are found guilty of murdering their husbands serve longer sentences on the average, according to the Center for Constitutional Rights, than men who have killed their wives. No wonder it's so hard to fight back.

--Jeanne Van Atta