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Unity Now
Comment on Abortion
by Kathy Johnson
ed note: The Supreme
Court recently ruled that
abortion laws were un
constitutional. However,
it will be interesting to
note the repercussions
of this decision.
In the decade of the
60’s, America passed
through what has become
known as the “SexualRe
volution.” During this
period, skirts were
shortened, music became
psycedellic, drug use
was no longer confined
to the ghettoes, musi
cians and beat nics, and
sex was no longer con
sidered as “hush-hush.”
Sex had become exploit
ed in literatures as well
as in the movies, even to
the point that it sparked
a militant religious or
ganization to start a
movement to get sex ‘ ‘out
of the movies and back
into the bedroom.”
With this sudden up
surge of sexual libera
lism came what is call
ed the “Age of Promis
cuity.” It is here and
now, during the Age of
Promiscuity that the
Black community must
deal with the concepts
of birth control and
abortion. These concepts
have aroused much con
cern and now, we as a
people must effectively
deal with not only birth
control, but also the mo
rality of immorality of
abortion. Black women
make up ten per cent of
all the abortion cases,
while Blacks as a whole
constitute approximate
ly one third of the state’s
population.
Through out the Unit
ed States, a woman de
siring any type of con
traceptive no longer has
to depend on a private
physician or the readily
available methods from
the drug store. She can
now go to any number
of agencies designed spe
cifically for their pur
poses. These agencies
are usually in associa
tion with the county
health department, a
national organization
such as Planned Parent
hood - World Wide Po
pulation, or in some
cases, strictly indepen
dent. Here in Fulton
County, a woman who de
sires to prevent preg
nancy has many agencies
at her disposal. One of
these is the Family
Planning Service, which
works in connection with
the Fulton County Health
Department. This ser
vice offers nine day cli
nics, and two night cli
nics to their patients.
At these clinics (whose
/acuities accommodate
males also, the patients
receive proper medical
examinations, counse
ling, and their choice
of contraceptives; pills,
foam, diaphragms, Inter
Unerine Devices (IUD’s)
or Condoms. If a woman
who is pregnant desires
help, she is referred to
Grady Hospital, where
she will be considered
for an abortion if she
meets the foremention-
ed requirements, and if
she is a charity case.
The abortion will be pre
formed free of charge if
the patient is a charity
case. According to Dr.
Jacob Adams, Acting
Director of the Family
Planning Services, ap
proximately 30 abor
tions per week are per
formed at Grady Hospi
tal.
Abortion and birth
control promote rising
interest in the Black
community because they
are no longer being view
ed as mere devices to
control population, but as
genocidal mechanicms.
In speaking to people
around the immediate
Spelman - Morehouse
community, opinions va
ried, but the general
feeling saw that abor
tions were totally indi
vidual privileges.
A Spelman sister
views borth control and
abortions as being non-
genocidal. On abortion;
“I feel that there are too
many unwanted children
already - I think its
really cruel to bring an
unwanted child into the
world. As for the pill,
it gives you and your
husband or whatever the
case as chance to plan
your family. It also gives
you a chance to enjoy your
intimate moments more
without the fear of be
coming pregnant.” Ano
ther sister feels that
there are two ways to
look at birth control and
abortion but you must
realize that there are so
many people on the pill
because they want to be.”
Clifton McKnight of
Morehouse College is of
the opinion that “birth
control is a hip thing-
however, it is being us
ed as a genocidal me
chanism to reduce the
Black birth rate. It has
its genocidal tendencies,
but it could be a good
thing, because it is some
thing that people need to
use. I wouldn’t tell a
chic not to use it, but
I would tell her not to
go out have her tubes
tied, or tell her old man
to have a vasectomy.”
Generally speaking,
the males were more re
ceptive and aware of a
grant many more of the
consequence involved
with birth control and
abortion than were the
females. They viewed
both concepts with a
greater degree of per
ception and rationality.
One brother related the
following personal ex
perience: “My Lady and
I had to make a deci
sion regarding abortion
neither she nor I was
ready for the role of
parenthood, but we were
able to look past that.
We considered the fact
that something could hap
pen, and we might never
be able to have another
child - and this was
something that was
OUR’s.” It is very easy
to see where this Brother
is coming from, but what
of the Lady whose Man
he has “knocked her up?’
January 15 is the birth
day of a great black man
who believed in unity and
respect for all. Unfortu
nately some of us in the
Atlanta University Cen
ter do not adhere to the
same beliefs.
Since the death of the
late Dr. Martin Luther
King, there has been a
move (mostly support
ed by students) to mer
ge the four undergra
duate and the two gra
duate schools into a large
university named after
the late Dr. King.
However, with the re
cent move by Morris
Brown College, it ap
pears that the dreams
of many students are now
farther away than ever.
We must be fair and
say that the Morris
Brown Board of Trus
tees probably did what
they thought was the best
thing for their school.
And we must realize that
the other boards of trus
tees would do the same
thing if faced with the
same decision). We,
however disagree with
their decision.
There is waste in re-
petion of course at each
of the schools with a
small number of students
in each class. There is
also a waste in use of
facilities. Much of the
various schools opera
tional expenditures would
be better utilized with a
merger. For example,
the duplication of books
in the various libraries
or the cost of maintain
ing a classroom to hold
a repetions course.
Even more important
than money ( which our
parents have to pay) is
the waste of knowledge.
We have many small
departments which can
only teach the required
courses. This in turn re
tards our educational
growth by the lack of
different types of cour
ses.
Many opponents to a
merger feel that the lost
of heritage and identifi
cation is too great a price
for the production of ex
ceptionally well qualified
black men and women.
But for too long we
have allowed tradition
to hinder our advance
ment. Now is the time
to stop. Now is the time
to let the past become
a building block instead
of a stumbling block. We
can do it. We must do it.
To
My beautiful Black Sisters
From
A Sister with Love
Attempting to write this message, I must admit
that my struggle is one of internal freedom and ex
ternal liberation; for the evils of society have been
internalized in our beautiful beings. With this under
standing I share these thoughts.
Understand my sisters, that we live in a White-
Anglo- Saxon, male dominated society and are forced
to work out of this frame of reference. Even here
at predominately Black Institutions; Clark, Spelman,
and Morris Brown we manifest this internal, white,
societal negativity. We are not always cognizant
of this negativity and how it reflects ouFlife objec
tives, self concepts and working relation with one
another. This parasitic negativity shows up in subtle
manners amongst us as individuals and as institu
tions in the Atlanta Univeristy Center. In specific,
these parasites display themselves in superiority
and inferioty complexes between Spelman, Clark and
Morris Brown sisters. They manifest themselves
in profound individualistic and competitive drives
to excel one another. They manifest themselves in
pseudo notions about one another, in illusions that
escape the question, “What does it mean, to be a Black
person, woman and sister in a white society that
seeks to suck up in its deteriorating existence?”
My sisters with these thoughts, questions and aware
ness of love to you, I hope that a positive image
will manifest itself and shed new light on the direc
tion we need to move in as a total body.
In discussing abortion
in any form, it becomes
difficult to eliminate the
morality or immorality
of taking a human life,
or denying life to an
unborn child. We rais
ed the question as to whe
ther or not an unborn
child was to be consider
ed as life. Darwin White
a Morehouse senior feels
that “it is considered
as life to me that con
ception takes place.”
Spelman senior Karen
Chester feels “true
enough they (the sperm
and ovum) are living
cells, but no more so than
any other living body
cell. No one complains
when you chop off an arm
or any other body cell.
It is my opinion that
an unborn child is not
life until it takes it’s
first breath of air - then
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