The Battalion
PINION
Friday, August 3,1990
Opinion Page Editor
Damon Arhos
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D. V.
Ahluwalia
Reader’s Opinion
Abortion spells
rejection in our
weak society
Often on the Opinion Page, I read
opinions for and against pro-choicers.
Those who consider themselves against
pro-choicers call themselves pro-lifers.
It is my opinion that this distinction is
a little insensitive and insulting to those
who may hold the pro-choice position.
The reason I feel this way is because
the “pro-choice” position refers to the
options our culture and society offers to
a pregnant woman, married or
unmarried. For the moment, let’s
conFme our attention to the campus and
the unmarried sector.
What options do we, as a society, as a
culture and as a student body, offer to a
woman considering abortion?
The options often translate into the
humiliation, and possibly the rejection
and pain, of asking your parents for the
money to have an abortion, or of having
a cheap assembly line abortion without
anesthesia.
The option also includes
discontinuation of one’s studies, and the
.resulting annihilation of one’s
independence and career. Falling back
on the food stamps and the rest may
also be an option.
The choices of a woman considering
abortion on the campus are defined by
these options. Unless, as a society, we
are more sensitive and provide
appropriate financial and emotional
support (lasting an extended period of
time), it is absurd to attack the pro-
choice position.
The work for the pro-lifers is clear
cut. They must create the
transformation needed to make the
“pro-life” option feasible for a pregnant
woman.
And to accomplish this task, I think
they can join hands with pro-choicers in
peace.
The pro-choicer is not against pro
life. When and if a pro-choicer opts for
abortion, it must be explicitly
understood that she has no life-
enhancing options.
Abortion is not a pleasant “nirvanic”
experience. It is not one’s unambiguous
choice lacking deeply-felt, unspoken
conflicts and anguish.
Instead of considering the off-
campus situation, where the pro-choice
situation must once again be viewed in
reference to the existing socio-cultural
and economic situation, let’s look at the
possible social effects.
What image of society does a woman
who goes through an assembly-line
abortion carry in her heart? What
disappointment and heartache must she
go through? What fills her dreams, and
what happens to her spiritual well
being?
One can only imagine.
But we can do something beyond just
imagining. We can be a little more
sensitive, a little more responsible.
We can show a certain understanding
of the complexity of the abortion issue.
We can refrain from making a mockery
of abortion by insisting on the pro-
choice or pro-life boundary when we
favor, or disfavor, a constitutional
amendment to ban abortion, or some
similar political convenience.
D.V. Ahluwalia is a graduate student
in physics.
As with all columns, viewpoints
expressed in Reader’s Opinions are not
necessarily those of The Battalion.
Persons interested in submitting a
Reader’s Opinion should contact the
Opinion Page Editor, Damon Arhos, at
845-3314.
Life after honeymoon may not be worth effort
Columnist takes look at marriage after seeing film ‘War of the Roses’
h
All is fair in love and war. I would just
as soon stay away from both. I recently
saw the film “War of the Roses” starring
Michael Douglas, Kathleen Furrier and
Danny DeVito. If you haven’t seen the
movie, I highly recommend it.
It’s pretty scary thinking about
marriage, especially when school is at
the top of the priority list. Within the
last two weeks, I’ve attended two
weddings for old high school friends. I
sat and thought about the marriage
institution as I heard vows being
exchanged. It occurred to me that when
you get married you are legally bound
by a contract. I wondered if my friends
knew what they were getting into?
I can’t imagine living the rest of my
life with the same person, much less
living the rest of my life by myself. But,
nonetheless, couples around the world
get married everyday. Some weddings
are called a “convenience” while others
simply happen because two people are
in love. It is shocking to think that two
people can actually give up so much of
their lives for each other. I’ve never had
to give up so much for someone.
Then comes the question of divorce.
Luckily, my parents are still married, so
I wouldn’t know much about it. It
intrigues me that the same two people
that promised their love to one another
are now fighting to get away from each
other. Why did they get married in the
first place? They could have saved
themselves and their family a lot of
trouble had they not gotten married.
I suppose things happen. But,
sometimes divorces are really messy.
Usually a child is stuck in the middle,
and they are the ones that suffer the
consequences.
This is what I’m trying get at: Is it
worth going through all the trouble of
getting married and spending all that
time and money for a battle in court? I
think people need to give it more
thought when they get married, and
more consideration before getting a
divorce. Statistics show that one of t»|
marriages ends in divorce. What a
shame.
There are people out there who til
believe that it is worth it, especiallyif
they are the wives that end up withtf
houses, cars and kids. I’ve neverheail
of the husband asking for alimony.!
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are the main contributor of incomelo
the family. That’s the way it shouldk
A relationship between two people
both ways.
1 suppose we all learn from our
mistakes, and that’s what makes us _
better people. I do believe in marriajff
and divorce, I just have to question iff
institution itself. If two people arere*
for marriage, they should commit
themselves to each other and to the
relationship. Why do we need a piece
paper stating the legality of a
relationship? It’s useless nowadays.k
live together and enjoy each other’s
company.
Marriage and divorce are a big step
and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Yet,
people go about it daily. My favorite/;
from the movie “W'ar of the Roses" ic
one that Danny DeVito said concerm;
divorce. “There’s no such thingas
winning,” he said, “just degrees of :
losing.” Ain’t that the truth!
Rudy Cordova Jr. is a senior theatr
arts major.
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Richards protects individual rights
EDITOR:
Hats off to Ann Richards on her stand for individuals. A person’s sexual
orientation has nothing to do with the pastors’ attempt to push their religion
on others.
I sincerely hope that Ann Richards wins by a landslide. Williams with his
holy attitude would be dangerous to the individual rights of others. There ap
pears to always be a group or groups of individuals in the United States that
enjoy hurting others; the pastors seem to be the ones. Vote for Ann Richards!
Charles R. Greene ’57
NEA doesn’t deserve restrictions
EDITOR:
One detail omitted from Robin Redfield’s “Reader’s Opinion” (The Bat
talion, July 24), was that all the projects Redfield listed received a total of less
than .0004 percent of the NEA budget (even with the figures Redfield cited,
one of which, I believe, was inflated by 50 percent). Apparently Redfield
would trash the thousands of outstanding, uncontroversial NEA-funded pro
jects in order to get tough, with these two or three, one of which has recently
been discovered to have received no NEA funding at all.
Here’s an excerpt from conservative David Geren’s editorial in the latest
issue of U.S. News & World Report:
“The NEA has played a highly constructive role in the past quarter-cen
tury, and it deserves to be fully funded for the next five years. Its thousands
of grants, all but a handful above controversy, have helped us spawn a flow
ering of the arts across the country. ... In its laudable desire to maintain stan
dards of decency, Congress should leave in place its current rules against
Call —
funding obscene works but should avoid imposing new restrictions that would
handcuf f the NEA (The NEA) knows where to draw the line.”
Larry Jackson
KAMU staff
Article ‘most confusing’
EDITOR:
The article “Lt. Gov. Hobby calls Williams ‘buffoon’” (The Battalion, July
12) was most confusing. The title of the article belies its content. In fact,
according to the narrative, Hobby did not call Williams a buffoon, but re
ported what Williams had said about himself, “Her opponent is a self-pro-
claimed buffoon.”
A buffoon, according to the Webster’s, is a ludicrous figure — a clown, Its
second meaning is a gross, ill-educated, stupid person. Readers need to know
under which conditions did (if indeed he did) style himself as a buffoon? Lt.
Gov. Hobby shows himself to be the buffoon in its second meaning by not pro
viding the context of the remark.
Tom Ahern
Graduate student
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Damon Arhos,
Opinion Page Editor
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