The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, September 30, 1988 Page: 3 of 16
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THE RICE THRESHER FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1988 3
Abortion issue
rages onward
To the editors:
We would like to follow up on the "Abortion
Issue Timely" letter by John James and Aileen
Burton [Thresher, Sept 23,1988] by present-
ing some medical facts and raising a few moral
questions.
When is a child in the womb alive? When
can it feel pain? (1) As early as seven weeks,
both the heartbeat and brainwaves are record-
able. By the 30th day almost every organ has
started to form, and at three months all organ
systems are present and functioning; the baby
sleeps, wakes and just continues to grow and
mature. (2) When the sperm and ovum unite,
they become a complete package programmed
for development into a mature adult; subse-
quently, nothing is added but time and nutri-
tion. (3) Sixteen weeks after conception, palm
and finger prints unique to the person are
forming; they are permanent some time in the
sixth month. (4) Between 9 and 131/2 weeks,
the spinal cord and the nerves and brain struc-
tures necessary to feel pain are developed and
functioning. If the child does feel pain, we must
at least reconsider our methods of abortion.
Saline injections, for instance, cause a slow,
burning death. We must also reconsider
whether we should perform abortions at all.
How safe is abortion, really? Serious com-
plications can occur even in early abortions.
Possible immediate complications are infec-
tion, cervical damage, perforation of the uterus
(could necessitate the removal of the uterus),
and death. Possible long term complications
are sterility, ectopic pregnancies, still birth and
miscarriage in future pregnancies, and prema-
ture births (the leading cause of mental and
physical retardation, cerebral palsy, and death
in new-borns).
Women have the right to make choices, but
should they not be constrained in issues like
abortion which involve another human life?
Most of us would agree that human rights
violations, apartheid, the Nazi exterminations,
slavery, and the killing of innocent adults (i.e.,
murder) are morally wrong, but each of these
issues involves choices. These people have
made their choices to avoid circumstances that
would have caused them distress: people vio-
late human rights to suppress dissent; racists
hate other people; murderers kill for revenge,
for material gain, to escape arrest, etc. In each
case, the alternative choice would result in
emotional and mental distress, and possibly
physical harm or financial loss.
What determines the value of human life?—
Race? Color? Sex? Productivity? Personal dis-
tress On context of abortion)? Should the aged,
mentally retarded, or unemployed be done
away with because they are burdensome to
take care of? Should the poor be eliminated
because they touch the conscience of the well-
off, producing emotional distress?
We feel abortion is not the most compas-
sionate solution. For one thing, abortion is
often physically and emotionally more trau-
matic than bringing the baby to term, espe-
cially for teenagers, who are not as prepared to
handle the psychological impact of abortion as
other women. If pregnancy results from rape,
an abortion may eliminate an unwanted child,
but itwill notundo the rape or heal the woman's
memories and emotional scars. If a developing
child is handicapped, abortion will not cure the
child but kill it. Death is no cure; most handi-
capped or very sick people who have the choice
opt to remain alive. Abortion can save the
mother a lot of money, but if money is the issue,
let us give her money in exchange for a life.
Furthermore, in most abortions, the situations
mentioned above do not apply; the fact that the
mother still choses abortion over keeping the
child or giving it up for adoption reveals a
problem deeper than just the presence of the
child.
There are alternatives to abortion that are
more compassionate to all concerned. Some
examples are supportive community services
for distressed pregnant women, adoption for
the "unwanted" child, rape crisis centers, ex-
panded maternal health programs, birth insur-
ance to financially aid parents of handicapped
infants, research to prevent birth defects,
community help for handicapped children,
self-help anti-poverty programs to alleviate
economic conditions which might make a
woman want to reject her child, and education
in responsible sexuality and parenthood.
Since 1973 there have been 15 to 17 million
abortions in the U.S. We must not ignore the
issue. We must consider all the facts, get the
complete picture and take a stand.
Steven Krzentz, M.E.E., *89
An and Kumar, Grad. Student, '83
THB DtBATB HELP F6UU SURPRISES^
rbapmtwps!
make my mf!
immigrants... eat quiche
and DIB!
AS The. SON
I OFGRBBK
..but the press ms still having i
trouble- digesting tub new bush.
I JUST PONT GET IT. I'VE FOL-
LOW EP BUSH FOR YEARS. HE USED
TO BE SUCH A NIC5, DECENT
fellow...
QOO
i know. all the slurs seem
so out of character. some-
times i think thb guy
we're watching isnt really
george bush at all'
bin60.
it's almost as
if hb had some
evil twin... yeah.
...anphe'sa tub-new"
"carp-carrying
member of the ngg'tjff
i BOUTIQUE ^
SLITS1.
or is he? abc news,
playing a hunch, has
recently discovered that
6e0r6b bush is no long -
br what he seems to be!
in fact, thb "new" george
bush is not george bush
at all! he is, rather, none
other than george bush's
EVIL TWIN, SKIPPY!
PONT WORRY.
SKIPPER,THEY
pamnf CANT PROVE
IT. \
... and sources close to
thb "vice presipent"have
reluctantly revealed that
j hb is in fact being played
i now by bush's EVIL TWIN,
' SKIPPY! s
apparently the switch was
mapb in new orleans, short-
ly after bush's pisastrous
selection of pan quayle
as his running mate...
skippy was installed in the
vice presipents sufte, anp the
real george bush was spirttep
outtothb pepart1ng yacht of
an unidentified cam-
paign supporter'
damn! he's
gotten im
the lafites /
SIR, the other
passengers
are starting
tosusffct.,
'the real 6B0P6B BUSH, seques-
tered in the wine cellar of
the "trump princess," was
not a happy man...
]
IT'S NOT FAIR!
ISHOULDNT
HAVE AGRBEP
TO THIS!
this is MY campaign! Ipid
all the work! anp now my
darn twin is getting all the
crepit for puke-bashing
while j languish in this...
this floating
meanwhile, i
cant see my family,
1 cant talk to my
own staff, i cant
even watch my own
debate on tv.'
how could this happen,
sir? howcoulpa
major presidential
i candidate be re - it's
' placep by his been a
evil twin 7 longtime
( coming,
q,R ynnvf AND10
SIR, YOUVE TOP I TOFF,
HARDLY TOUCHED T MISSED
YOUR YOGURT. PBAfZ
HARBOR
DAY'
for months, my people have
been pushing mb to take the
low road, to play down and
dirty. but it never worked.
it wasn't me. i kept revert-
ing to the quiet, decent guy
1 was raised,
finally, when i
pitt that stuff in my
speech about waiting
AND THAT'S
WHEN THEY
CANNED
YOU2
I TRIED TO
EXPLAIN I WAS
JUST PANDER-
ING TO WOMEN,
BUT NO GO/
I
2S\
sure, i made a few
goofs, i hired a bunch
of anti-semites, but other
than that, i've shown
excellent political in-
stincts! just excellent
\ don't you
v"-- think9
b,ir, have you
ever tried to
say "president
quayle"? 60
aheap, try.
what really
burns me up is i
KNOW i could po as
well as skippy! you
think running against
dole was easy
sledding?
PRE..
PRE- Z..
P-P-PRE.
OKAY,
WHAT'S
YOUR
point?
UH„
WELL...
well,
what?
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McGarrity, Patrick & Sendek, Joel. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, September 30, 1988, newspaper, September 30, 1988; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245701/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.