The Badger Herald

OPINION & EDITORIAL

Lichtenheld rantinsg absurd; politics impede EC availability

by Letters to the Editor

Tuesday, December 6, 2005

I'm an American citizen and although my country is a different one than that of my ancestors, armed with the legacy of a family who has always been uncompromising in their pursuit of justice, I must defend my fellow teachers with a sword and a cape. In a recent article in The Badger Herald entitled "Political bias invades grade school," the author blasted away at teachers for presenting students with a view that they are "ill-equipped to question." Well, you tell that to a child who comes to ask why their mother did not come home last night or why people are dying in Iraq. Unfortunately, we are not in the position of assigning who is equipped to ask what. As a pawn of the media who consistently censors war to make it more palatable for the masses, the author is not one to argue the case of objectivity. After all, he has spun the teachers' claims in a direction that would best serve his rhetoric. As teachers, we are in the business of shaping citizens in a world riddled with injustices and we must fight against those who would shelter our children under a blanket of morality that denies the horrors that occur in the world today. I worry for the future of a nation that discourages their children from asking questions because they are unpopular in nature. Instead our schools should be sanctuaries where our children can dream of change, where they can ask those questions that challenge them into becoming better human beings rather than places where they learn to be helpless. This is not only their right but also their duty as citizens of this country and as members of the human race.

I'm tempted to dismiss Mr. Lichtenheld's ranting as the over-privileged whining of one who belongs to a class which has the luxury of going to college, but instead I will congratulate him in participating in the process and exercising his right to question and say as he pleases. After all, this is not my opinion but that of decades of Americans who gave their lives defending the First Amendment. Perhaps most tragic of all in this media hysteria that has spun about "lost of objectivity," "political bias," "Were they given choices?" and even the First Amendment, is that we have lost sight of the real tragedy, which is not that our children are writing letters for peace but that they are dying at war!

Michele Jaen

It's about time the Food and Drug Administration is put under some pressure regarding their inaction on permitting over-the-counter sales of emergency contraception (EC). Our Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager is doing a great service to women in Wisconsin by pressing the FDA, and, with hope, other states will follow suit.

As many know, the FDA, National Institutes of Health, College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and other medical authorities recognize EC as a safe and effective means of preventing pregnancy. Research studies have shown that emergency contraception, like traditional oral contraceptives, works primarily by preventing ovulation or interfering with fertilization.

Opponents of EC seem to focus on a less common mechanism, which involves the interference of implantation. Medically, however, implantation is a vital part of any pregnancy; fertilization alone guarantees nothing. In fact, it is estimated that 50 percent of fertilized eggs never become clinically recognized pregnancies. EC, then, simply increases the chance that a woman does not become pregnant.

The FDA is a tough crowd to impress, and even they have been overwhelmingly impressed by the safety and efficacy of EC. Politics continue to impede the final approval, and unless action is taken, leadership will continue to sit on this. If these leaders are not persuaded by scientific facts, other measures must be taken to provide women with appropriate health care.

Jabe Best (best1@wisc.edu) is a second-year medical student.