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THE CLUSTER, FEBRUARY JO, 1900-PAGE 3
Abortion foes, supporters
step up campus protests
By MICHAEL O’KEEFFE
(CPS)- Prompted by the U.S.
Supreme Court's decision to rule in
a case that could make abortions il
legal, rallies for and against abor
tion have broken out on a number
of campuses in recent weeks, and
both sides say they will step up ef
forts to recruit more students to
walk their picket lines.
Students at Stephens College in
Missouri, Iowa State, Yale and
Western Michigan universities and
the universities of Houston.
Washington. Texas and Illinois, to
name a few, have rallied for and
against abortion in recent weeks
with an intensity unusual even for
this issue.
Organizers predict more campus
efforts will come as the term rolls
on, and the Supreme Court’s deci
sion — due this spring —
approaches.
In early January, the court agreed
to rule on a Missouri law that limits
abortions in that state. —,
If the court rules the law is con
stitutional. it would effectively alter
or even overturn its landmark 1973
Roe vs. Wade decision, which
stopped states from passing laws
restricting women from obtaining
abortions.
“We’ve grown up with this right
to abortions.” Stephens College
sophomore and pro-choice activist
Jane Drummond said. ”We’ve
never really thought of it as
something we’d need to fight for.
Now it may be taken away from
us.”
Hoping to drive that lesson home
and portray jut how profoundly
anti-Roe decision would affect col
lege wnpen. pro-choice advocates
arc fanning out to speak at college
campuss whenever they can.
The National Abortion Rights
Action League (NARAL). a na
tionwide pro-choice group, and the
National Organization for Women
(NOW), have long ’ ignored cam
puses.” admits NARAL’S campus
coordinator Marcy Wilder, who
now says. “It’s time to focus on
them again.”
NARAL and NOW already have
pro-choice groups on about 55
campuses. Wilder said, and hope to
mobilize students at 400 schools in
upcoming weeks. Then they will
try to draw *‘hundreds of
thousands” of supporters to
Washington. D.C., in April to sup
port abortion, she said, to counter
the large pro-life actions held in
January.
’’What needs to happen is that
the pro-choice movement needs to
become more visible.” Wilder
said. “The anit-abortionists have
been very visible. We need to do
the same.”
“College women arc the perfect
activists for this issue.” said Ron-
ni Rothman of the American
Association of University Women.
“They’re a relatively untouched
hotbed for this issue, and many
pro-choice activists are already tap
ping into that grassroots energy. ’’
Since the Supreme Court bases
its decisions on the Constitution,
common law. case law and
previous rulings, it’s much less
susceptible to public opinion than
Congress or the president. "Unfor
tunately. you can’t picket the
Supreme Court," said Rothman.
Yet, Wilder says, “If we can
convince the court there will be a
lot of confusion in American socie
ty if they overturn Roe vs. Wade,
they may act less drastically.”
Pro-life activists, too. are
recruiting students to pressure the
court — and sway public opinion
— to limit or criminalize abortion.
In Texas, for example, pro-life
students at Rice. St. Mary's and
our Lady of the Lake universities.
Del Mar College and the univer
sities of Texas and Dallas have
formed a statewide network. Texas
Collegians for Life, to press their
case.
“We think there should be alter-
nativies to abortion," said Joe Po-
jman. a University of Texas grad
student who is the group’s presi
dent. “No woman should need to
have an abortion because there are
no alternatives.”
The Missouri law which has led
to the renewed abortion controver
sy states that hum4P life begins at
conception, bans public facilities
from performing abortions, and re
quires pregnant women to undergo
SUMMER JOBS!!
Applications are now available
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contact:
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Coordinator of Upward Bound
Special Services Divisioo
or call
744-2686
All application materials must
be completed by March 10. 1989.
tests to determine “fetus viability"
before being allowed to get a
private abortion.
Legal scholars say the court
could declare the law unconstitu
tional, thus leaving women’s rights
to undergo the procedure
unchanged.
It could also declare the Missouri
law constitutional but leave Roe vs.
Wade intact. The court could also
overturn Roe.
If the status quo is changed, ac
tivists on both sides of the issue
says, life for collegians could
change dramatically.
“We’re not really sure what this
all means yet,” said Rothman.
‘ ‘The court could chip away at Roc
vs. .Wade, giving the states more
leeway in regulating abortion. The
worst case will be that while the
rich will always be albe to find
abortions, the poor won't. Students
will be hard hit since most don’t
have a lot of money.
“A lot of it just depends on
where you go to school." Rothman
continued, explaining that if Roe is
overturned each state will deter
mine its own abortion statutes.
Wilder reports that five stales —
Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana. South
Dakota and Kentucky - already
have laws to make abortion a crime
if Roe vs. Wade is overturned.
Dozens of others, including Con
necticut, New Hampshire, Califor
nia. Georgia, New Mexico and
Wisconsin, have laws that will
greatly restrict access to abortions
if Roe is overturned.
Abortions, onsequently. could
become much more expensive and
difficult to obtain.
“Regardless of the legalities,
abortion is still seen as a need.
That’s the problem," said Pame.u
Wilson, president of the Universi
ty of Houston’s Students for Life
and Feminists for Life of America.
The way to change that kind of
thinking, said Wilson, is to push
for greater access to birth control
and sex education for students, and
for more day-care facilities for
young children. “It’s sad we’ve ac
cepted (abortion) as a compromise.
We’ve been led to believe abortion
is a cure-all.”
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’ and
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Feb 21-24
8 00 p m
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