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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 1980)
THE BATTALION WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1980 Page State OKs Medicaid $ for abortions United Press International AUSTIN — The state Board of Human Resources Tuesday autho rized Medicaid payments for abor tions on welfare recipients whose doctors will certify the operations “medically necessary.” The board voted 3-0 in an emergency action to okay govern ment funds for abortions on welfare recipients retroactive to Feb. 19. The move brings Texas into com pliance with the decision of a federal district court in New York that last month ruled unconstitutional the strict limits Congress imposed on use of government funds for abor tions. Dr. Emmett Greif, the Texas wel fare agency’s deputy commissioner for professional medical policy, said the court ruling gives state officials no choice but to approve payment for abortions on any welfare recipient whose doctor certifies the operation is necessary in his professional judg ment. The state agency will require documentation before paying, but the decision on whether an abortion is necessary because of a woman’s physical, emotional, psychologicial or familial condition is strictly a mat ter for her and her doctor to deter mine, Greif said. “We have no way of telling a physi cian how to practice medicine,” Greif said. “We can only demand documentation that the law was com plied with.” Greif said the new policy will not permit abortions for family planning or mere birth control. He predicted the number of government-financed abortions will not exceed 1,000 a year. “I don’t see it going up to any great extent,” Greif said, noting that the Texas Medicaid program paid for 30 therapeutic abortions during 1978 and 12 in 1979. “I don’t anticipate anything like 3,000.” Prior to August 1977 when Con gress adopted the Hyde Amend ment, the Texas Department of Hu man Resources used Medicaid funds to pay for as many as 3,000 abortions annually. Greif said the proportion of the 3,000 performed for medical reasons was relatively small. The state board voted to direct the National Heritage Insurance Co., which currently administers Medi caid payments for Texas welfare reci pients, to notify doctors and hospit als of the new rules on abortions. The three-man board decided against any effort to notify welfare recipients of the rule changes. Commissioner Jerome Chapman estimated it would cost $80,000 to mail notices to persons eligible for such Medicaid services. “We feel the money would be bet ter spent on persons who are in need of help, ” Chapman said. “We feel the recipients are well aware of the issue through the news papers, radio and television,” Greif said. Costs of abortions probably will average $400, Greif said, but the tot al number will not be large enough to require an increase in the premiums the state pays for insurance coverage on welfare recipients. Church sues school district United Press International AMARILLO — Forty Tour pupils who belong to the Worldwide Church of God have filed a $100,000 federal civil suit against the Amarillo Independent School District, alleg ing violations of their religious freedom. The suit challenges the school dis trict’s policy, adopted in 1978 over the church’s objections, of allowing PRICES AT SAFEWAY! SAFEWAY Scotch Buy Bathroom Tissue —«i iiiiiiiluiiiiiilittlliiiii ■sr mmmmm Scotch Buy Flour mmmm S c Town House Bonus Pack Crackers Lucerne V2% LOW Fdt Milk Town House Tomato Catsup 79 32 Oz. . . Btl. ragmont. Carbonated fejSoft Drinks WAS 6/99* Regular or Diet Dairy-Deli Foods! Cinnomon Rolls Soft Spread “£49* Cream Cheese iT.;™ 4 C M Sour Cream SS'S-*f n : '... "<£79* READY TO SERVE SHOP! Scotch Buy Margarine 37* 0. tr v- Scotch Buy Peanut Butter These items available at the following stores only: College Station; Katy; Lufkin; in Port Arthur at 1700 Jefferson; in Austin at 9411 N. Lamar A ISoo W. 35th; in Houston at 7510 Bellfort, 16550 II Camino Real & 7617 W. Holcombe. 8 Pieces of Fried Chicken or One Whole ^ Smoked Fryer 0 French Bread Fresh & Tasty! Jarlsburg Cheese... Apple Pie ... Lb. 8 Inch Deep Dish Each $ 2.Q9 Sliced (2 Lb. .. $ 1.96) iiii Fresh Whole Fryers Scotch Buy Grape Jam or Jelly In a hurry and just a few items ... C y p p g-C-C 0PENTIL KJk. r itCOO MIDNIGHT! CHECKSTAND! ITEMS OR LESS! PLEASE! FAST & CONVENIENT ... NO DELAY ON YOUR WAY USDA Grade 'A' (Regular Cut-Up Lb. 59’) .. Hen Turkey Hindquarters Sliced Beef Liver EVERYDA YLOW PRICES A LITTLE BIT MORE! ^Safeway Smoked Sausage s Com Syrup SmS* .. 3J £85< Fabric Softener ^ 33 Oi. VC* Btl. / 0 Syrup ,. 3 m! 99C White Magic Bleach rLu... ....*. S!:43< Low Cal. Dressing Dishwashing wrAc 20 b£65< Salad Dressing a e 4V. B !L a M.d., w« 69 .:&57' Ocean Mist H. , Ba,h . 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The plaintiffs contend further th; the policy violates the guarantees religious freedom set forth in bo the U.S. and Texas Constitutions. Before 1978, the AlSD’s religiouj holiday policy was less restrictive When the policy was changed Church of God minister Jeffre Booth asked the school board to n consider. “We don’t want our children to b( penalized for taking off from schoq for religious observance,” he said. Under current policy, student, must make up work missed whethe the absence was excused or unex cused. But they “will not be giver credit for the work” if the absence was unexcused. School superintendent Dr. B.J Stamps says the policy was well cons idered, however, before action wai taken, and he thinks the decision is good one. Amoco wins first round United Press International GALVESTON — Amoco Oil Cc| has won the first round of its battle t exclude striking employees from federal team investigating a Feb. 13 Texas City refinery accident and wil try to extend its victory today. U.S. District Judge Hugh Gibsoi Monday granted Amoco a temporarj order denying the Occupationa Safety and Health Administration ; search warrant for the plant. Gibsoi planned a hearing Wednesday tc consider extending the ban. The company objects to OSHA’: plans to bring striking union cm ployees into the refinery to help witl the inquiry. Company official: vowed to disobey if OSHA is given a search warrant under those circums tances. OSHA answered that the law re-; quires a worker to be involved in any accident investigation. The union has been on strike since Jan. 8 and management and contract technical personnel have been run-j ning the Ampco refinery. The acci-l dent occurred Feb. 13. The company contends no union member was on the job when the! accident occurred and therefore no union member should be included in the investigation. Police admit to vulgarity United Press International AMARILLO — Jurors who heard undercover agents testify they drank beer, used vulgar language and ex posed themselves before arresting a prostitute, Tuesday assessed the woman a maximum $2,000 fine and one year in jail. The Potter County Court-at-Law jury deliberated about half an hour before assessing punishment for! Brenda Faye Ransom, 25, who had been convicted of prostitution pre viously. During testimony Monday, two agents for the Potter-Randall County Metro Organized Crime Unit said they bought beer and took some to Miss Ransom’s residence “to have booze” on their breaths. Ultimately, “to prove we weren’t cops,” the men admitted unzipping their trousers and exposing them selves. Department adds catfish United Press International WASHINGTON — The Agricul ture Department issues reports on production of a variety of items rang ing from mushrooms and popcorn to cows and pigs. Now it has added cat fish to the list. The department issued its first periodic report on catfish farming Monday, reflecting an increased in terest in fish farming, or aquacul ture. A bonus is the report’s new retail- price index for fish products. An in dex of 17 canned and frozen-fish pro ducts rose 0.2 percent from Decem ber to January to a level 12.5 percent above a year earlier. Prices for whiting, cod and had dock fillets as well as canned chunk light tuna rose substantially, while prices for halibut steak and fish sticks dropped. The new “Farm-Raised Catfish Processor’s” report said domestic production of farmraised catfish pro cessed during January totaled 3.5 million pounds, up 16 percent from a year earlier. Freshwater catfish imports, which all came from Brazil, totaled 1.6 mil lion pounds. Pa Dff( :s Sc b etie: don \L L >-4 ciat tokii of tl ha' rou< ranc ideli e n< snci >ntic 1 mo ne f I H I