Show Let freedom prevail Lynne Lucio Columnist am a newcomer to Salt Lake City and am amone amone I lone one of the fifty percent th that t is not Mor Mor- and think that mon I am also pro-choice pro the ignorance shown by the majority of the Utah Legislature is abominable I am sure that many of the good citizens of Utah including those of the predominant religion are embarrassed by bythe bythe bythe the publicity of the abortion bill I am quite sure that if the men in the legislature who are pushing for this bill were told that they would not be allowed to have more than two children they would yell that their civil rights were being violated I Iam Iam Iam am also sure that if these same men were the ones who had babies there certainly would not be as many children born and abortion would be legal Is it just possible that the Mormon legislators legislators legislators legis legis- cant can't accept the fact that women do think for themselves in the Maybe they are afraid the women in their lives might choose an abortion without first deferring to their husbands husband's or fathers father's wishes whether or not it is the belief of the women I believe that women today are capable of making an informed decision based on their personal situation without having to have someone else's views shoved down their throats Wake up legislators Women are free and we have had the vote since 1920 with the enactment of the Amendment Since this situation concerns women and their privacy the vote for or against abortion abortion abortion abor abor- tion should be theirs and theirs alone Of course the legislators cant can't be open-minded open enough to let his happen They know what the outcome would be It was already decided by the United States Supreme Court in 1973 in Roe v v. Wade Its It's doubtful that the Supreme Court will now change their vote and declare that women do not have a right to privacy Public money by law is supposed to be spent for the common good It should be spent on education for the children who are already here including funding for sex education to try and bring down the teen pregnancy rate which is quoted to be one of the highest in the country Education is a amore amore amore more pressing problem today than worrying whether women who do not share the views of the legislators have babies that they dont don't want or cant can't have When legislators and our governor cannot cannot cannot can can- not vote for what's best for their con con- then they shouldn't be in office The separation of church and state is necessary necessary necessary sary and it is the law For many years most of the people of Utah were Mormon This allowed the leaders to run the state as if they didn't have to follow the laws of our country Things have changed Utah is now about fifty percent non-Mormon non and many Mormons are arc pro-choice pro although the philosophy of the church continues to hang like a black cloud over the state The money that is entrusted to legislators to al allocate allocate allocate al- al locate for programs does not include spending spending spending spend spend- ing it to decide a religious issue The time that we pay our legislators for is to be used to decide issues that affect the common good This country was started when people from other lands wanted to start a new life in a place where no one would persecute them for their religious beliefs The Mormons Mormons Mormons Mor Mor- mons themselves came to Utah to escape religious persecution The Mormon legislators legislators legislators legis legis- now have the appearance of religious persecutors They seem to have forgotten that the first Amendment of the Bill of Rights guarantees religious freedom In addition addition addition ad ad- it forbids government funds to provide provide provide pro pro- vide support in any way for a church or its ideology We are about to enter a new century and the Utah Legislature is still trying to run things like they did years ago Maybe its it's time for a fresh wind of change to blow through Utah Freedom is what this great country is all about Utah is still a part of the Union isn't it I have met many people here in Utah who are members of the Mormon church They are free thinkers and accept other peoples people's ideas as their right There are many though who blindly follow the dictates dictates dictates dic dic- dic- dic tates of the church never thinking whether its it's right for them or the other people it affects It is this type of thinking that has allowed Utah to remain over twenty years behind the rest of the country Throughout the United States Utah is rarely taken seriously by the average person Society has never forgotten that the Mormon Mormon Mormon Mor Mor- mon Church and the State of Utah was based on the plural marriages that the church leaders made their personal choice and an integral part of the Mormon religion It was ridiculed one hundred years ago and its it's still being ridiculed today Utah needs to stop basing its it's laws and decisions on ideological foundations The bottom line is that if you dont don't want an abortion dont don't get one |