ABORTION Threats to Reproductive Rights

UPDATE

By Ruth K. Finkelstein

Several serious threats to freedom of choice and reproductive rights are before us as we plan this year's annual Supreme Court anniversary events.

Nationally, there are a number of anti-abortion initiatives. First, the Constitutional Amendment proposed by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) was passed by the Subcommittee on the Constitution on December 16, 1981 by a vote of 4-0. Senator Hatch plans to bring S.J.R. 110 before the full Senate Judiciary Committee within a month and expects a Senate vote by early spring. This bill, the "Human Life Federalism Amendment," is a more serious threat than previous constitutional amendments because it stands a better chance of passing.. Because the bill "only" states that abortion is not a right secured by the Constitution and Congress and the states have concurrent power to restrict abortion, some legislators will argue that the bill is not so much anti-choice as pro-states-rights. This legislation and supporting arguments fit right in with Reagan's "New Federalism" program, which has been devastatingly successful in Congress this last year.

However, some anti-choice groups do not support the Hatch amendment because it neither outlaws abortion outright nor “protects the rights of the unborn". May of these groups are supporting the Human Life Statute (old Ș.158), newly reintroduced by Senator Helms (R-N.C.) as S.1741. S.1741 is the same Human Life Statute; human life begins at conception; the 14th Amendment protects all human life; abortion is murder.

Before the end of the 1981 session, Senator Helms employed an obscure parliamentary procedure to put his newly introduced bill on the calendar for consideration by the full Senate without Committee approval. It was necessary for Helms to bypass the committees because when the Human Life Statute was passed out of subcommittee, Hatch, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, stipulated that committee consideration of the HLS be postponed until after a vote on his New Federalism Constitutional Amendment. Since Helms and his supporters do not support the Hatch amendment, they continue to promote the HLS.

All of this division and dissension among the antichoice groups is hopeful for choice. However, it is very dangerous to assume the anti-choice forces will simply divide and dissipate. Votes on either measure were postponed until after the January recess, giving anti-choice forces an opportunity to regroup. There is evidence that they have done so; a Right-to-Life "Seminar" on the Constitutional Amendment was held Saturday, January 9, at John Carroll University.

Pro-choice individuals have waited too long for anti-choice forces to disappear of their own accord. Despite differences in strategy, they remain united in purpose and are achieving victories: the new Surgeon General is Everette Koop, a pediatric surgeon with no public health experience and a renowned antiabor-

tion lecturer and author; S.B. 315, the "informed consent" harassment measure, passed handily in the Ohio Senate this November; the City of Akron is appealing the ruling of unconstitutionality for the "Akron Ordinance" requiring parental consent for abortions. The list goes on.

This year, make participation in the January 22

events the beginning of your involvement for choice. There are many pro-choice groups active in the Cleveland area-one of them will fit your style and schedule. Call Education for Freedom of Choice in Ohio (EFCO) at 621-8224 for more information on groups and activities in Cleveland. We need your support.

On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision legalizing abortion, yet in 1982, the right to a safe, legal abortion, is unavailable to many poor women, and is under attack by such groups as Right to Life. This year, on January 22, the Pro-Choice Action Committee (PCAC) will sponsor a demonstration outside the annual Right to Life meeting at the Masonic Temple, 36th St. at Euclid Ave., 6:30pm.

After the demonstration, PCAC, Education for Freedom of Choice in Ohio (EFCO) Commonworks, and the National Lawyers Guild will present a concert by folk singer Kristen Lems. The concert will be held at the Cleveland State University Main Classroom Auditorium at 8:30. Tickets are $4 in advance $4.50 at the door for those who attend the demonstration, and $3 for senior citizens and those with low income. For child care or more information, call 321-6143 or 621-8224.

cpf

Fund Raising for Choice

By Ruth K. Finkelstein

The Reproductive Freedom Coalition is sponsoring its fifth annual event on January 18 to commemorate the 1973 Supreme Court decision protecting the right to abortion. This year's event is a fundraiser and support is crucial for a number of reasons. First, and least important, the evening will be quite pleasant: supper at Earth by April; music by a stu-

To Contact WSW By Phone

Reach WSW staff members at 283-2482 6:00-9:00 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings only.

dent string quartet; a silent auction of some nice items ranging from artwork by Cleveland artists to a week at a Peak. 'n' Peek ski chalet.

More important reasons include some principles. The charge is often leveled that choice is a white middle class issue; that survival is the issue for most women. It is true that too few minority women work

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Page 4/What She Wants/January, 1982

PROTECT A WOMAN'S

RIGHT

TO

CHOOSE

in pro-choice organizations and this is a serious problem; however, choice is very much an issue for all women, especially poor women. If the right to choose safe, legal abortion is lost, women with money will still be able to get abortions; poor women will suffer by carrying unwanted pregnancies to term or obtaining dangerous illegal abortions.

The proceeds from the Reproductive Freedom Coalition benefit go to two organizations: Education for Freedom of Choice in Ohio (EFCO) and the Planned Parenthood Medical Services Loan Fund. EFCO provides support for all the pro-choice activities in the Cleveland area. The Medical Services Loan Fund provides loans for poor women to get abortions. While the area abortion facilities do have reduced rates for women on welfare, many can still not afford abortions. The loan fund provides loans to these women. Each dollar raised in the community is matched by a grant from the Gund Foundation. The loan fund and EFCO need the support of the feminist community.

I

My final reason for urging support is probably more controversial but, I think, important. The dinner is expensive: $20 per person. There is not a sliding scale, nor are there free tickets. The reason is simple; the dinner is a fundraiser. Everyone can't always afford to attend a fundraiser and there are other prochoice events the week of January 22 that are free or cost less. However, many of us are still lucky enough to be employed during this recession. Many of us can afford a $20 fundraiser, but somehow we balk when a "feminist" event is expensive. I know I have blown $20 on a "romantic" dinner or a New Years' party, an unnecessary gift or recreational substances, and then have cried broke to a fundraiser! If you can attend the Reproductive Freedom Coalition dinner on January 18, call 621-8224 for ticket information. If you can't afford the $20 dinner, send a smaller dona̧ tion, anyway.