CLINTON ST. QUARTERLY Abortion continues to be one of the hottest issues of our national life seven years after the Supreme Court declared it to be legal, a matter between a woman and her physician. It is one of those issues that is always there, usually simmering just below the surface, and then bursting to our attention every election year, when pro- and anti-abortion forces loudly marshall their forces. It is an issue of many parts, and it bristles with fevered rhetoric on all levels and sides, right down to how each side labels itself: it’s “ pro choice” vs. “ pro life.” Behind the emotional cries and pitches lie very real political considerations, however, especially since the so-called “ pro-life” forces have declared—and in some cases have demonstrated—that they can make or make or break a candidate on the single issue of abortion. A look at some of the pro-life groups operating in Oregon, and the tactics they employ in what can only be characterized as their holy crusade, is important as the election year deepens. Abortion has been legal since 1973, but in 1976 the Hyde Amendment effectively cut off funding for over 99 percent of welfare women by restricting payment only to cases of rape or incest, or to save the life of the mother. On Jan. 15 of this year, U.S. District Court Judge John Dooling ruled as unconstitutional the denial of Medicaid funding for abortions. This means that the federal government and all states participating in the Medicaid program are again required to provide funds for “ abortions that are necessary in the professional judgment of the pregnant woman’s attending physician, exercised in the light of all factors, physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age, relevant to the health-related well-being of the pregnant woman.” An appeal by the Justice Department is expected to be decided by the Supreme Court sometime this spring. In his 328-page decision, much of it devoted to an exhaustive account of the destructive effects of unwanted pregnancy, Dooling demonstrates that the purpose of the Hyde Amendment never was to save the taxpayers money. Rather, it was a ploy by antiabortion Congressmen who were frustrated in their attempt to pass a Constitutional amendment overriding the 1973 Supreme Court’s decision. Its purpose was quite simply to circumvent the Court’s ruling and prevent as many abortions as possible. Part of Dooling’s decision asserts that the tactics of the right-to-lifers gain them attention and influence far out of proportion to their numbers. A 1978 Cambridge Survey Poll reports that in Oregon, for example, 81 percent of those polled agreed that “ the decision to have an abortion is up to a woman and her doctor.” The popularity of such a sentiment doesn’t stop Right-to-Life of Oregon and other “ pro-life” groups from vigorously fighting abortion’s legalized status. Right to Life/Oregon and Birthright are mainstream groups; they are in the phone book. Life Amendment Political Action Committee of Oregon (LAPAC/O) is not hard to identify. Shield of Roses is also easy to find; its members may be seen every Saturday morning, picketing Lovejoy Specialty Hospital. Another Lovejoy picketing group, Bridge the Gap, has not been active since its leader was arrested for disturbing the peace. (They appeared at Lovejoy one Saturday in bloody surgical gowns with plastic bags of baby doll parts and dolls impaled on swords.) Ideologically, these groups vary only in the intensity of their rhetoric. The very name “ pro-life” indicates the self-righteous belief that their view is the only moral view. By definition, they are the upholders of humanity, while all others are mass murderers. This explains the popularity of one of their favorite and most vicious bits of rhetoric—the “ parallel” between Nazi Germany and America today, the spectre of “ legalized, mass extermination of persons who have been defined out of the human race.” This is the idea put forth by William C. Brennan in his book, Medical Holocausts. Speaking at a Right to Life/Oregon conference last fall, Brennan pointed out that the terminology of the Holocaust and the terminology of the pro-abortion movement are strikingly similar. “ Proabortionists don’t use the term ‘kill.’ They use ‘evacuation of the product of conception.’ In Nazi Germany, the word killing was rarely used. More often, it was ‘evacuation of the ghettoes,’ ” he says. Every political pro-life group is happy to trot out a version of this “ correlation,” since it epitomizes the sensational twist they put on their arguments. Bea McLellan of LAPAC/O expresses concern that “ our country could turn into another Nazi Germany,” pointing out, “ Jews like to talk about six million murdered during the Holocaust, but that number has already been equaled by babies murdered through abortion.” Anti-abortionists’ ideas about sex, women, and authority can also be seen as being similar to Hitler’s. Under the Nazis, abortion was a serious crime, in some cases punishable by death. According to Ellen Willis, a New York feminist writing for The Village Voice, the comparison is also anti-Semitic; not only does it trivialize and co-opt the slaughter of Jews, it does so in the name of the very “ Christian values” chiefly responsible for anti-Jewish persecution. But the basis for the pro-lifers’ fervor, the idea that abortion is murder, can be put in many ways. Lynda Harrington, president of Right to Life/Oregon, is a pleasant, soft- spoken mother of two who sincerely believes that all other human rights are subordinate to the so-called right to life. “ I’m not opposed to women having determination over their lives,” she says, “ but a woman has already exercised her sexual freedom when she conceives.” Harrington is a member of “ Feminists for Life,” a small group of activists who oppose abortion in the name of radical pacifism. “ As I became involved in the feminist movement, I became concerned that although women are discriminated against, there’s a group that is even more a target of discrimination by the fact that their very lives are being threatened,” she explains. Voice writer Willis considers this liberal wing of pro-lifers a “ study in self-contradiction: in attacking what they see as the violence of abortion, they condone and encourage violence against women.” She cites the violence which forced childbearing does to a woman’s body and spirit, and its contribution to other kinds of violence: deaths from illegal abortion; the systematic oppression of mothers and women in general; the poverty, neglect, and battering of unwanted children. She continues, “ Radicals supposedly believe in attacking a problem at its roots. Yet surely it is obvious that restrictive laws do not keep women from seeking abortions; they just create an illicit, dangerous industry. The only way to drastically reduce the number of abo rtions.. .is to invent safer, more reliable contraceptives, ensure universal access to all birth control methods, eliminate sexual ignorance and guilt, and change the social and economic conditions that make motherhood a trap .” Unlike LAPAC/O, Right to Life/ Oregon cannot endorse candidates because of its tax status. It is active in political channels by identifying and educating the public as to which candidates are pro-life, however. Prolifers advocate single-issue voting, a tactic which gives them a lot of political clout. This is justified because, as Harrington says, “ A politician who’s not capable of understanding that the protection of human life is a fundamental principle of good government is not qualified to hold elective office.” Founded in Oregon in 1969, Right to Life/Oregon is a state affiliate of the National Right to Life Organization which claims 11 million members. The state branch is loosely organized —Harrington could not say how many members they have, but their newsletter, Life Light, has a circulation of under 10,000. She says that the state organization is entirely supported by donations from its members, however. The National Right to Life Political Action Committee, which is required to report its funding sources, on the other hand, is heavily supported by the Catholic Church. Right to Life’s stated purpose is to “ educate the public to the realities of abortion,” but much of their activities and literature are more misguided than educational. One of their most recent activities was a picket of Planned Parenthood, an organization which has long been the target of anti-abortion sentiment because, says Harrington, of their “ major involvement in the abortion industry: they own and operate 27 abortion clinics and are the number one promoters of abortion on demand.” She added that Planned Parenthood does not provide alternatives to abortion or address fetal development. Joan Binninger, public affairs coordinator of Planned Parenthood, responds to these comments: “ It’s hard to answer this sort of distortion. For one thing, these groups fail to realize that Planned Parenthood has done more than any other organization to prevent the need for abortion. We do operate 27 abortion clinics, out of a total of 189 national affiliates. These were set up in areas which did not previously have any abortion facilities, or where the price of an abortion was so high as to restrict women from obtaining them. The charge that we advocate only abortion as an alternative to pregnancy is simply untrue. We offer complete pregnancy counseling, and abortion is just one of the options women may choose. We also offer pre-natal counseling and do many referrals to agencies such as Birthright which help women to carry their pregnancies to term when that is their choice. Binninger added that counselors do not routinely discuss fetal development unless the woman asks about it. “ If she does ask, we take that as a signal that she’s unsure and are very careful to talk to her in depth about her other alternatives to abortion.” The flyer which Right to Life handed out during their picket stated, “ Planned Parenthood has abused your tax dollars for years.” It cited various statistics—the 14 to 20 percent rise of illegitimacy annually in Oregon, the 14,000 legal abortions GOD, SEX & the “RIGHT TOLIFE” 7
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