Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Jan. 25, 1988, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
2The Daily Tar HeelMonday, January 25, 1988 New mules regelate atoorfkm conmselm By BETH RHEA Staff Writer Fifteen years after the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision legalizing women's right to abortion, President Reagan has dictated reg ulations that abortion advocates say could significantly limit that right. The new rules will prohibit women from receiving abortion counseling and referrals in family-planning programs that are federally funded under a 1970 law, said Dinesh D'Souza, a White House senior policy analyst. Reagan plans to publish the rules in this week's Federal Register, D'Souza said. The move, which has been viewed by its opponents as an administrative power play against abortion, is an effort to align the law's enforcement with its intended purpose, D'Souza said. In 1970, Congress passed the Public Health Service Act, known as Committee Title X, which earmarked $150 million in federal funding for birth control each year. In the last several years, Health and Human Services regulations have allowed Title X money to be used for abortion referrals, D'Souza said. Using the money for abortion referrals "was and is contrary to the statutory purpose of Title X," D'Souza said. When anti-abortionists protested Title X, sponsors of the law said the law was not intended to promote abortion and was actually intended to reduce the need for abortion, D'Souza said. "Title X prohibits any program from getting money which promotes abortion as a method of birth con trol," he said, emphasizing the need for new regulations that strictly interpret the law. "Title X is a pregnancy-prevention program,'' he said. Although doctors and nurses in from page 1 undergraduate learning experience at UNC. Fordham said that proceeds from a $1 million contribution would go to improving undergraduate education. Michael Ibrahim, dean of the School of Public Health, reported on the University Task Force on AIDS. He said that after surveying UNC students and staff, the only way to fight the AIDS epidemic is "educa tion for prevention." Although most of the people who responded to the questionnaire knew some basic facts about AIDS, Ibra him said there are still some miscon ceptions about the ways in which the virus may be spread. Ibrahim said that he hopes to see more educational material on AIDS, along with other educational and counseling opportunities for anyone concerned about the disease. Round trip deluxe hishway motorcoach 8 days7 nights at the Hawaiian Inn All rooms ocean front, AC, color TV, bar, indoor heated pool. Welcome party provided! Discounts to Daytona night clubs optional side trips o Sun & Fun just $Q0" coziplsts. Contest Christen ct 929-5957. $50X0 deposit duo scon! Title X-funded clinics might be qualified to counsel women about abortion, such counseling is not appropriate for a program promoting birth control, D'Souza said. Because a doctor's opinion can influence a patient's decision, abor tion counseling often promotes rather than discourages abortion, he said. But if Reagan eliminates abortion counseling, women's freedom to make their own health care decisions will be limited, said Scott Swirling, executive director of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association. "It's bad medical practice to not, provide women with all the options so they can make their own choices," Swirling said. Because Reagan's rules offer limited options for pregnant women, they will force women into child bearing, he said. D'Souza disagreed, saying that once a woman was pregnant, birth control was no longer relevant. Congress' intent in passing the Public Health Service Act was to provide quality health care, but Reagan's new regulations violate that intention, Swirling said. Swirling plans to file a lawsuit against the regulations as soon as they are published, he said. "Reagan has spent the last seven years trying to destroy family plan ning," Swirling said. "He will not destroy it in his last year in office." The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Harris vs. McRae that the right to abortion imposes no obligation whatsoever on the government to fund it, D'Souza said. Sen. Terry Sanford, D-N.C, sup ports the idea that women should ' have all health care options open to them, said Tom Lawton, Sanford's press secretary. Rep. David Price, D-N.C, also opposes Reagan's policies and is pro choice concerning abortion, said Jim Jordan, Price's press secretary. A spokesman for Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., refused to comment until the regulations were published. Despite the attention generated by Reagan's new regulations on abor tion, advocates and opponents of abortion found time last week to remember the 15th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision handed down Jan. 22, 1973. The National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) released a three-part study Wednesday about abortion rights that included a bipartisan poll of 1,200 people. "A majority of Americans and a majority of Southerners share a solid commitment to the right of women to choose an abortion," said Ruth Zeigler, spokeswoman for the Durham NARAL chapter. The poll showed that 56 percent of Americans support legalized abor tion, she said. In addition, 77 percent agreed that abortion is a private issue and government should not be involved, Zeigler said. The American Collegians for Life (ACL) held its sixth annual confer ence, "Accepting the Challenge," at Trinity College Jan. 22-24. ACL, a national organization of pro-life college students who oppose abor tion, infanticide and euthanasia, participated in the annual March for Life in Washington Friday. Israeli prime minister opposes Middle East peace conference From Associated Press reports JERUSALEM Prime Min ister Yitzhak Shamir told visiting U.S. Jewish leaders Sunday he was ready to meet Arab leaders "openly or secretly" but persisted in his opposition to an interna tional Middle East peace conference. Theodore Mann, the president of the American Jewish Congress, and Henry Sigman, the group's executive director, brought Shamir messages from Jordan's King Hussein and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt urging the Israeli leader to endorse an inter national conference. Contra aid triggers unrest WASHINGTON An impending congressional show down over the Reagan adminis tration's policy of aid to the Nicaraguan contra rebels has triggered a round of intense lobbying aimed at about five dozen "swing" lawmakers. But many of those who are in the center of the storm of persua sion say they are relatively unaf fected by it, and are watching developments in Central America before they make last-minute voting decisions. Health officials combat AIDS LONDON Health officials from 145 countries are gathering in London this week for a world AIDS summit at which they will plan a global assault on the deadly epidemic. News in Brief The three-day conference, which opens Tuesday, will be the largest meeting of government ministers ever held on a single health problem, according to the World Health Organization. The U.N. agency, based in Geneva, and the British govern ment are co-sponsoring the event. Attending from the United States will be Surgeon General C. Everett Koop; Robert Windom, the No. 2 official at the Depart ment of Health and Human Ser vices; Gary Noble, deputy director of the Atlanta Centers for Disease Control in charge of AIDS activ ity; and Peter Fischinger, AIDS coordinator for the Public Health Service. 90 people killed in derailment BEIJING An express train derailed early Sunday in the mountains of southern China, killing 90 people and seriously injuring 66 others, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. It was China's sixth major transportation accident in a month. A total of 314 people have been killed. The No. 80 Kunming-Shanghai express derailed and overturned at 1:35 a.m. as it traveled between Qiewu and Dengjiacun stations, 220 million miles from Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, Xin hua said. Life-after-death 'visionaries' seek public validation From Associated Press reports RIVERSIDE, Calif. When a cryonics company froze Dora Kent's head last month, it was with the hope that the 83-year-old woman could someday be revived and live in a new body without the disease that plagued her first life. But while the members of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation cast r I r L 1 National Kidney Foundation of North Carolina IV P.O. Box 2383 Chapel Hill, N.C. 27515 INFORSVIATIONAL MEETING UNC YEAR IN MONTPELLIER Wednesday, January 27 3:30-5:30 in Toy Lounse 3:30 Video Presentaion 4:00 Student Panel (4th floor Dey Hall, UNC) themselves as visionaries, others consider cryonics the work of mad scientists. Cryonics is the freezing of the dead in the hope that technology will someday advance to the point that the bodies can be revived a practice scoffed at by most medical authorities. On Jan. 7, Alcor President Michael Darwin and five members were handcuffed and taken in for question ing, and the Riverside county coroner demanded to examine Mrs. Kent's severed head. The physician and Alcor member who signed Mrs. Kent's death certif icate, indicating she died from pneu monia, is under review by the Uni versity of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine, where Darwin is a post-graduate research patholo gist. The man who removed the woman's head a research associate, at the medical school has been put on a paid leave of absence. Alcor has refused to turn over Mrs. Kent's head, and earlier this month received a temporary court order preventing the coroner from disturb ing the frozen remains. A Feb. 1 hearing is set. Alcor officials say it is the novelty of the field that got them into trouble. "The law is really way behind the times in dealing with it," Alcor attorney Christopher Leanders said. "It's a big, new, unregulated field," said John Gill, executive officer of the state Cemetery Board, which licenses cemeteries and crematories. , Learn about a new breed of banker when Bankers Trust Company visits your campus this Spring. NIGHT BEFORE PRESENTATION Tuesday, January 26th 7:00 - 9:00 pm Carolina Inn, North Ballroom Come meet with our representatives to find out about "Merchant Banking The Bankers Trust Way." BankersTrust Company Shaping the future in finance
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Jan. 25, 1988, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75