^e J^tfieia
^ National
Briefs
WarToU-To date in the Middle
East; 42 casualties have been
retarded; 15 in combat and 27
in non-combat There are 8
United States prisoners of war
being held; as compared to the
1,222 Iraqi soldiers held in
Satidi Arabia. ^
Mail Slow^pwp-Officials slate
thatitnowtakes around two to
three weeks for mail and pack-
S o reach soldiers in the
e East. Reason cited is
the enormous volume arriving
each day, approximately 140
tons,
Diabetes Gene Found-The lo
cation of the gene which causes
the most conunon variety of
diabetes has been found by re
searchers. Thediscoveryof this
diabetes mellhus gene could
lead to the treatment and pre
vention of this type of diabetes
which is non-insulin-depend
ent.
FIojrida-A study is now under
way to research the low levels
of microwave radiation emit
ted from radar guns used by
police on patrol; and baseball
organizations to dockbaseball
g itch speed. There is a possi-
ility thattheseguns may cause
cancer.
San Francisco-Dolphin killing
is again the focus m the indus
try of ttma importation from
Mexico. The ban on these im
ports, lifted on November 15,
1990, which protected the dol
phin under United States law
from accidenlal-Olegal capture,
stands to be reinstated as a
result of a lack of improved
methods of tuna capture.
']/oCumeXX^I, O^mSer XII Montreat-Underson CoQkge H^eBniary 20,1991
Utah's Abortion 'Choice'
Susan Long
Staff Writer
Recently, the issue of
abortion has again risen to
the forefront of topical social
issues. On January 26,1991,
Utah's State Legislature
passed a law which empha
sized restrictions concerning
abortion and posed a large
challenge for the 1973, Roe
vs. Wade case. The closing of
the legislation and finaliza
tion of the law will be Febru
ary 27,1991, a rebuttal by the
Civil Liberties Union has al
ready been set for 60 days fol
lowing.
What specific restrictions
does this law entail? Basi
cally it permits abortions only
in cases of rape or incest
through the twentieth week
of pregnancy when...
1. A women's life is in
jeopardy.
2. A doctor says the un
born child would be bom with
defects that would cause
problems withactual survival
(this does not include retar
dation).
3. Grave results could
occur to the pregnant
woman's medical health. It
also states that violation of
this law will be a class three
felony punishable with up to
a $5,000 fine and five years in
prison. Earlier in the week on
Wednesday, the Utah Senate
passed a stricter bill yet the
Hou se changed it due to fears
that the Utah State Legisla
ture would notpassit, though
this legislation has already
caused surmounting conflict.
Actions of Utah Pro-
Choice activists include the
boycotting of various tourist
attractions and the promise
of active demonstrating
against Utah'sbid for the 1998
Olympics. Similar rebuttals
have been characteristicof the
past. In the U.S. territory of
Guam, and in Pennsylvania,
such anti-abortion bills have
been found unconstitutional
by Federal DistrietCourts and
are at present in the Circuit
Court of Appeals. Similar
controversy was aroused in
1989, when Webster vs. Re
productive Health Services
allowed for the state's wider
ability to regulate in-state
abortions. Passed in Mis
souri, this law posed a direct
attack to the 1973 Doe vs.
Bolton mling in which there
were restrictions placed on
the state to prescribe abor
tion restrictions.
Yet, supportagainstabor-
tion seems to be surmount
ing. Ninety percent of the
Utah State law makers are
Mormons and consider abor
tion unquestionably wrong.
The Governor of Utah, Nor
man Bangerter, who had to
sign the law says, "If we be
lieve in the rights of the un
born, with some proper quali
fications for the right of the
mother, then we have the
responsibility to defend it
adequately." This comment
was in response to statements
that defense of the newly
passed bill could cost Utah's
government large sums of
money. Other states where
legislatures are trying to rid
abortion as a means of birth
control are Missouri, South
Dakota, Wyoming, Louisi
ana, Michigan, and Ohio. In
addition, several of the U.S.
Supreme Court Justices ap
pointed since the Roe vs.
Wadedecision have indicated
that they might overturn this
decision if given the opportu
nity. With this in mind it is
more likely that the Utah leg
islation would hold up if it
had to go to the Supreme
Court.
Here on Montreat's cam
pus opinions of abortion
range widely. Freshman,
See "Abortion** page three