| Show --- --- - -- COMMENTARY The Salt Lake Tribune Tribune Abortion Poll Skewed - 01901 lii 471t PCIP1111A poll of 2100 Americans reveals that "Americans are opposed to abortion in most of the circumstances under which it is currently '' FOR THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE On Sept 4 The Salt Lake Tribune carried on its front page the results of a random survey it had commissioned the Insight Research Co to do on the abortion issue Four hundred Utahns were asked: "Should a woman have the right to choose if she has an abortion?" Only 31 percent said no 57 percent yes 12 percent unsure (A breakdown by religious preference showed LDS 40 percent no 46 percent yes 14 percent unsure Catholics 21 percent no 75 percent yes 4 percent unsure Protestants 6 percent no 79 percent yes 15 percent unsure) In my opinion the survey is seriously flawed The abortion issue is far too complex to be surveyed through only one unnuanced question (The projection by religious preference on the basis of only 28 Catholics and 34 Protestants interviewed also amazes me) The survey results conflict with other recent and more sophisticated surveys done on the national level I find it difficult to believe that Utahns are more than the rest of the country A more sophisticated and nuanced survey of 2000 people across the United States conducted by the Wirth lin group in July 1990 (commissioned by the US Catholic Conference) showed that the majority of Americans (55 percent) are basically and only 40 percent are more or less While it is true that among the segment 35 percent would allow for the infrequent abortion to save the mother's life and in case of rape or incest they oppose abortion in all other cases Even among the 40 percent who 27 percent are more would oppose abortion after the first trimester — suggesting they are certainly not in favor of abortion on demand A Gallup poll commissioned last year by Americans United For Life (released by AUL Feb 28 1991) echoes the Wirthlin results and provides additional indicasentions of a strong timent in the United States This pro-aborti- anti-aborti- n anti-abortio- n pro-aborti- anti-abortio- n 7-7- changed at least in one instance Aug 17 we were traveling Highway 30 from Soda Springs to Montpelier The road had been loosely graveled The signs clearly read "Do Not Pass" and "Reduce Speed to 35" About 9 pm an 18- wheeler passed us at an estimated speed of 65 to 70 miles per hour There was a shower of rocks but worse was the cloud of dust made by the speeding truck which reduced visibility in the darkness to zero To the anonymous trucker: In your haste to arrive at the next truck stop was it worth it to disregard the law and jeopardize the lives and safety of four others? MORRIS F LEE Sandy Careless Owners As a member of several mane Societies throughout the US including the Humane Society of Utah I assure you that the animal control division of the West Jordan Public Safety Department is doing the best job it can with the personnel and resources allocated Their job is overwhelmingly complex and they are not immune to errors in judgment The real blame should be affixed to an apathetic public which allows the pet overpopulation to flourish unchecked and expects public employees to make up for that carelessness I thank The Salt Lake Tribune and David Clifton for attempting to be a part of the solution to this problem Hu- BONNIE L FERNANDEZ West Jordan k k 111a2i:: -- 1 - - i- : - - -- I ie - - I- ' f 1 :::-4:rI i (5MCMIQt '''v pRELID - —zip- -- Forum Rules Public Forum letters must be submitted exclusively to The Tribune and bear writer's full name signature address and telephone number Names must be printed on political letters but may be withheld for good reason on others Writers are limited to one letter of 300 words or less every 14 days Preference will be given to type written (double spaced) letters permitting use of the writer's true name All letters are sub ject to condensation Mail to the Public Forum The Salt Lake Tribune PO Box 867 Salt Lake City Utah 84110 More the Merrier In August at Murray High School the Division of Wildlife Resources held a hearing with Jordan Pederson presenting a graphic explanation of Utah's bear and cougar population The great bear hunters from the Ozarks of Utah took him to task and made him repeat continually why they cannot kill all the bears they wish Whatever he makes he earned it that day The great deer hunters from the Ozarks of Utah have decimated the deer population They had a great time outwitting the wildlife officers and poaching the herds What the whole thing amounts to is too many people with uneducated attitudes but we have no leadership on overpopulation of people or the need for education neither from Bush who represents the Republican establishment nor the Mormon Church and its policy of "the more the merrier" BARBARA CPP Draper Why don't the markets furnish cartons for the public to use to donate food for the needy? I have asked store managers about this and they look at me as though I have rocks in my head Those who provide food to the needy are crying for help Their shelves are practically empty oath or affirmation particularly describing the person or place to be searched and the person property or evidence to be seized" Before a judge authorizes a search warrant he or she must find from reviewing all the facts set out in the affidavit that there is probable cause to believe that particular items of evidence will be found at the particular location to be searched No warrant is authorized or issued upon the mere opinion of anyone whether it be a police officer or an informant In addition specific factual information justifying a nighttime search must be set out in an affidavit and unless the judge determines that nighttime service is ap N I‘ flZfee 1 4eA )':4: e! 1: '''' LA45: 7: ' '' — ''- I:' V ' '' ) ' AWe t ' - - 1:p'- I LAtAijo-civi- Bush's Education PR Is Wormy Apple By Jonathan Yardley THE WASHINGTON to believe the bleats and groans emitted from the White House have cruelly gnawed at the administrations of the past decade Well think again The early returns are in and what they suggest is that the press is ready to take a dive for "the education pres- POST — The Soviet WASHINGTON eve-rin- g institution or group the press yearns for a world of utopian progress and leaps at any opportunity to nudge us along in that direction It would much rather be marching in the parade to Paradise than standing on the sidewalk asking where the parade is headed Thus it is or at this early stage seems to be with America 2000 The plain truth is that like so much else to issue forth from this administration America 2000 is all air bubbles To be sure Bush has appointed a secretary of education Lamar Alexander who at least looks and sounds good and in Diane Ravitch a deputy secretary of the first rank But a couple of able people in high places can't dis guise the administration's deep indifference to the schools and by extension all the other domestic issues that have fallen under the umbrella of education To Bush who has no real program beyond the overriding necessity of his own "education" is just a buzzword To expect America 2000 to be anything more than that is wishful thinking at its most fatuous ident" President Bush has wrapped himself in the mantle of education and the press has snuggled right in there with him It is in the interests of the press to promote education generally and literacy specifically In the case of newspapers and magazines this needs no elaboration a nation that can't read won't read newspapers or self-intere- magazines But the television and radio news departments have a stake in this too a country where ignorance is bliss is a country oblivious to news in any form with calamitous consequences for Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather and Peter non-existe- nt Jennings But probably the most pertinent explanation is that education is a Good Thing The press in its current mood is even less likely than before to look a Good Thing in the eye Though it has been convenient for Spiro Agnew and his spiritual successors to portray the press as nattering nabobs of nega SALE ENDS SATURDAY Nea ti 71S IllfiTTRESS pilaaressi er a teal P At ANY tivism fed on the radical politics of the campuses the truth is that the press is implacably middle-clas- s in outlook and aspirations As much as any other American right-win- g Union was falling to pieces and the whole world was watching but the people who assay the world from the vantage point of NBC's news had their eyes elsewhere one night last week Their lead report shoving news from Moscow several minutes into the background was devoted to the Bush administration's "America 2000" education program It wasn't exactly a puff piece — mention was made of the obstacles ahead and of the president's political interests but on the whole it seemed designed to give America 2000 a boost to put NBC on the side of if not the angels at least the president Thus it went last week as the president and his handlers attempted to put a quick gloss on a domestic program that not only is but almost aggressively rejects domestic affairs as unimportant or uninteresting An election lies 14 months ahead and it has suddenly occurred to Bush & Co that American voters might like to have the issues of their own lives addressed by the White House This you might think would be red meat for the lions of the press — those same lions who if we are flEti) gizE 311a 04 2 — 4 ' 'itt Eg - yoA' -- - Ili"4410- 1 t? -- ' ' 1 Joh: 1 Ik' A oAllt ' no - No:--4- Iltik 0 - "tzi---- l t -- P(:olydeck t i u- 4' '— Twin Mattress Polydeck eact95 3995 ai)W" j ME COTTONWOOD MALL 4836 So Highland Dr 272-167- ' BOOKCASE BUNK $ 1495 -- Imitim i $CIZOO a warrants upon nothing more than the opinion of a paid informant does a disservice to Utah judges and peace officers alike 0 i 114k) HEART DAYBED q 995 INSIDE 6 Metal Bunk s15995 r' C Metal Bunk Twin & Full Red Blue White 9 $24-9'3(-) Store Hours: - 10:00-9:0- 0 Mon-Sa- LAYTON 546-626- SALT IAKE CITY hk 467-375-- 1 t 563 So North (UPPER LEVEL) 307 E 2100 t 101 t1 D rized r '411t4144411'ItOLI 1' 1 Executive Director Humane Society of Utah 2X6 BUN K 4601 111 DAYBED FRAME k A - UNKESE Over 12 styles on your floor at low prices k : -- -- se k propriate under the particular facts of the case a nighttime warrant will not be authorized Similarly specific factual information search must justifying a be presented to the judge or a warrant will not be autho- 1 4IT 16 ' S WEST JORDAN 8901 S 1300 566-417- 1 W KEARNS (West Valley) 3760 W 5100 S 967-557- 0 j"1"1 1032 S 7 11111111 1 I Oowd)OtAMidOt'"7tlkdb4! ' 4404 10 k KING SIZE QUEEN SIZE FULL SIZE TWIN SIZE ti tliud - - - s Ara-':11-r AL 77 los At t 4- - No Areitswevriore A Ilitt -- ' A ‘ t aliteadMIattlak only NYBEDJS ' ' -- ' ii:eL1411kultii sets I ) -- each piece sold in t : rx " a -- 404 - 1- A —TTN-4tplt4- OA lc sera741 z114 ' GENE BAIERSCIIMIDT Utah Attorney General ) 1 le) parinE55 PA! IL VAN DAM atiCt ' 4 -' LI ' Ii Drew Attention k IIXT ti: 1 The impression which may have been created by the article implying that judges in Utah recklessly issue nighttime search warrants or that officers seek such CID '::t 1 BETTY HANSEN Salt Lake City Thanks to The Salt Lake Tribune staff for alerting us and the rest of the public to the completely intolerable methods of killing animals which were formerly being employed by the West Jordan Animal Control facility As a direct result of that action their personnel are now being trained in humane lethal injection techniques The needless deaths of millions of healthy loving cats and dogs each year in this country is one of the most tragic problems involving domestic animals today and ironically it could be one of the easiest situations to remedy The greatest obstacle to curbing the staggering numbers of unwanted puppies and kittens being born every day is public ignorance and indifference which continues unabated at least partly because of most of the mainstream media's failure to bring this issue to the community's attention Your recent focus on the root cause of the dilemma — irresponsible pet ownership — has helped educate many people about the vital importance of spaying and neutering their companion animals I THe ---- pro-lif- Empty Shelves MUT Vre1110 I N1 n pro-lif- (flit II 1 I fOitiD It41145UCK GOTT! 1e 144' I pro-life- n MUT 1001 s'::'''''2—:::4':1 pro-lif- CCM! 131 1 6)‘ - LI pro-choic- n v'N ' :1'111i7J pro-choic- e" anti-abortio- k v': I c 41 11 pro-life- ''‘: ss f :4-- I t 1 s '"-- -- I Tribune Column on W arrants Unfair to Police Judges Edward McDonough's Point of Law column "Paid Snitch's Information Doesn't Justify Deadly Raids Terrifying Families" (The Salt Lake Tribune Aug 4) mischaracterized the process of obtaining search warrants in Utah The following statement from the article " judges in Utah warrants on the afissue fidavits of police officers whose only source of information is a paid informant who thinks that there might be some drugs in someone's home" is simply not true Utah law states "A search warrant shall not be issued except upon probable cause supported by : -- x Tribune Readers' Opinions Endangered Others highway safety Times have - - '""----- - ated over 300000 telephone responses the results of which were performed" Overall the Gallup survey de- published in its Aug 19 issue termined that a plurality of AmerEighty percent of those who reicans supports the agenda of the sponded disagreed with the statement: "A woman has the right to movement Twenty-sipro-lif- e percent indicate that they are choose abortion any time during " "strongly compared to pregnancy" 61 percent disagreed 17 percent who say that they are with the statement: "Abortions should be permitted within the "strongly Another 32 percent are evenly first three months of pregnancy" 72 percent disagreed with the split between the labels "moder" and "moderately statement: "Abortions should be ately (A surprisingly high permitted within the first six 23 percent say they are neutral on months of pregnancy" While such call-ithe issue — possibly reflecting a polls are not e considered scientific the overgrowth potential for the whelming response to the survey position) The Gallup survey also showed illustrates that there are many e advocates who are waiting that 75 percent of the respondents consider abortion to be the taking to voice their concern for the life of human life Nearly 37 percent of the unborn child In short all of this indicates that say abortion is just as bad as killing someone who has already been there is a far broader sentiment among Americans born and 28 percent say that while abortion is not murder it than the results of the local poll does involve the taking of a human would indicate An unnuanced survey such as this (and there have life Fully 50 percent of the Gallup been others across the nation in recent years often promoted by respondents believe that the uninterests) is simply born child's right to be born outnot to to helpful people as Utah and woman's the right weighs choose abortion from the moment the nation continue to grapple of conception Opinion among the with the abortion question On the other hand I need also to remaining 50 percent is divided as to when the child's right to life clarify that even if it could be outweighs the woman's right to proven that a large percentage of choose but only a slim 7 percent people favor abortion (at least in some circumstances) that does believe that it is at birth e A position also extends not make it right That abortion is to support for legislative proposcurrently legal does not make it als that restrict the circumstances morally right As society catches up with the under which abortions can be performed For example: 69 percent considerable scientific data (deRoe vs Wade) that "mostly favor" requiring that veloped since true confirms human life is that 18 of under paage get years girls from alpresent conception it will rental consent before they are become harder for most people to lowed to have an abortion 69 percent "mostly favor" proposals to justify the snuffing out of that human life — even in the tragic case prohibit abortions as a method of birth control 86 percent "mostly of rape or incest The Catholic insight that underlines the sacredfavor" proposals that require women to receive information about ness of human life and rules out abortion in all cases could well fetal development and alternaend up being fairly mainstream tives to abortion before going ahead with the procedure 84 percent "mostly favor" proposals to William Weigand is bishop of the prohibit abortion after the third Roman Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City month of pregnancy unless it is re I I — — GOOMPI SYNOICAIL 1 11Netereimes - 'p 2 - The Public Forum There was a time when truckers had a reputation for being courteous or at least having a sense of 1 I ' f' quired to save a woman's life In April 1990 Parade magazine conducted a survey which gener- lifitIKA 0061110 E Opinions of Utalms Americans By Bishop William K Weigand A2 3 Friday September 13 1991 |
