CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, July 15, 1992
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Gianna Jessen performs for approximately 1,500 spectators at the Kansans for Life rally at Memorial Stadium. Jessen, who is 15 years old, survived an attempted abortion by her biological mother. As a result, she now has cerebral palsy.
3,900 peaceful activists attend abortion rallies
By Becky Lucas & Julie Wasson Kansan staff writers
No matter what side they had chosen, they were adamant in their stands on the abortion issue. And all who attended the pro-choice rally on Campanile Hill or the anti-abortion rally in Memorial Stadium on July 11 expressed their views peacefully.
"We were hoping to achieve a large gathering of the pro-choice community to show that the majority of Kansans are pro-choice," Harshaw said. "We also wanted to generate a real interest politically."
Gail Harshaw, co-president of the Lawrence NOW group, said the event had gone perfectly.
Lawrence National Organization for Women sponsored the "Take the High Road" pro-choice rally on Campanile Hill, which attracted about 1,200 people.
A table was set up on the Hill, where prochoice advocates could sign postcards to be sent to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. The postcards urged legislators to back the Freedom of Choice Act currently being considered in the Senate.
Pro-choice activists used chants and songs to convey their message, and several speakers addressed the crowd.
John Brazee. Lawrence resident, said he attended the rally to support the pro-choice cause.
"You have to participate in order to complain," he said. "I think it's good that people came out and made their voices heard."
Jessica Pierson, Lawrence junior and member of the KU Pro-Choice Coalition, said she was pleased with the day's events.
"I came here to support everybody's right to choose," she said. "Today was really positive, and I didn't see displays of hard feelings between the groups."
Speakers take a pro-Christian, anti-abortion message to the family-oriented crowd.
Kansans for Life sponsored the "Cherish our Children Rally," which attracted about 2,700 anti-abortion supporters to Memorial Stadium.
Gianna Jessen, a 15-year-old girl from San Clemente, Calif., told the crowd that she had survived the abortion her mother underwent at seven months. She was one of many speakers at the rally.
Those attending the anti-abortion rally said they viewed the day as a time to reaffirm values and help motivate people to continue participating in anti-abortion activities and political activism.
"I believe abortion is wrong," said Timothy Riling, a Lawrence attorney who attended the rally.
"We are nurturing the children, the unborn and the born." Ken Crawford said.
"We went to last summer's rallies quite a bit," she said, referring to the abortion protests in Wichita during the summer of 1991. "And pretty much when time permits, we attend rallies. It's always on our hearts and minds."
Even though the final rally in Wichita attracted more people than this rally, Crawford said, she was happy with the outcome.
Mail-in fee payment on track
KU has two plans intended to avoid long waiting lines
By Chris Moeser
Kansan staff writer
Students should watch their mail during the next few days. If they do not, they could lose their fall classes.
She said about 20,000 bills were mailed by yesterday, with the remaining bills scheduled to be mailed today.
KU's new fee payment system by mail is in place and on schedule. And students who fail to pay by Aug. 3 will be dropped from the courses they enrolled in.
The comptroller's office began mailing bills to students Monday, said Kathy Shinham. KU comptroller.
He added that the bill students received in the mail would actually be the second notice of tuition. Tuition assessments were printed at the bottom of schedules students received when they enrolled in the spring. Students also had the option of changing their summer mailing address at that time.
Rich Morrell. University registrar, said his office had made every effort to inform students about changes in fee payment.
"We feel like we've done as much as reasonably possible to make sure the student has the right address," Morrell said.
Students have two options in paying tuition and fees, according to a brochure produced by the registrar.
Pay a $100 deposit plus any previous balance indicated on the bill and any itemized charges, such as library fines. Students who select this option must return to campus to pay the remaining balance. Students with last names beginning with the letters A-K pay from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 19. Students whose last names begin with the letters L-Z pay from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 20.
Pay the full amount.
Both forms of payment must be received no later than Aug. 3. Mail in payments with a domestic postmark of July 31 or earlier also will be considered on-time.
Shinham said the comproller's office had collected $356,000 from 427 students by last week.
She added that she expected a great response to the new fee-payment system.
Students who have questions concerning the accuracy of their summer address can call the registrar's office at 864-4422.
Democrats put focus on abortion as Clinton solidifies his platform
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Bill Clinton put abortion on center stage at the Democratic National Convention yesterday, telling women's political organizations: "It makes a difference whether the president believes in a woman's right to choose, and I do."
To hammer the point home, the Democrats invited a Republican supporter of abortion rights to address the convention tonight.
Clinton was upbeat as he took a break from his speech preparation — even after a confrontation with an anti-abortion activist who tried to hand him a fetus.
Clinton emissaries fanned out to delegate meetings, hoping to iron out the few remaining wrinkles of dissent at the convention.
But former California Gov Jerry Brown said he was not ready to fold his hand.
"We are a voice of the powerless, and we are going to stay that way," Brown said, withholding an endorsement of Clinton that would bring him a prime-time speech.
After meeting with Colorado governor and Clinton supporter Roy Romer, Brown delegates from that state pledged not to join a second night of "Let Jerry Speak" chants on the Madison Square Garden floor. Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wylund, rumored as a potential running mate for Ross Perot, promised party officials he would endorse Clinton.
"The choice in this election is clear. We've got us a race between an aristocrat, an autocrat and a Democrat," Georgia Gov. Zell Miller said, leaving little doubt that the campaign will prove cankertoner.
"The American dream is not dead," fellow keynote speaker Barbara Jordan said, but she added, "It is gasping for breath."
There were protests and more protests outside—including Clinton's confrontation with the anti-abortion demonstrator who asked for an autograph as a ruse for handing a fetus to Clinton, who pushed the man's pen away.
Democrats had their own surprise in store on the divisive abortion issue: Convention planners said a Republican woman who favors abortion rights was scheduled to address the Democrats and criticize Bush's anti-abortion views.
At the convention hall Monday night, the mistress of ceremonies, Texas Gov. Ann Richards, picked up where she left off in Atlanta years ago — zinging Bush.
"As far as this White House is concerned, honey, you can turn out the lights because the party's over," she said.
For the superstitions, the last Democratic presidential winner, Jimmy Carter, was on
last night's program, as was Jesse Jackson, whose endorsement of Clinton was far from enthusiastic.
Those in the opening night parade of past, present and future Democratic stars took time to praise Clinton, stressing his modest roots in Hope, Ark. There was no shortage of Bush bashing, and Vice President Dan Quarle didn't escape, either.
"We can't all be born rich, handsome and lucky," Miller said. "That's why we have a Democratic Party."
The pugnacious Miller even worked in a few shots at Perot, delivered with emphasis in his own drawl.
"If Ross Perot's outside, folks, I'm from Brooklyn," he said with a smile.
Jerry Brown said he would get around to enduring Clinton at "deliberate speed," but not yet. Besides, he said, maybe a little fracas would bring Clinton's made-for-TV party better ratings.
Clinton aides scoffed at Brown's demands for liberal changes to a platform that cements Clinton's party takeover.
It affirms traditional commitments to civil women's and abortion rights. It also tugs Democrats toward the center with calls for using military force when appropriate, for enforcing law and order, and for moving welfare recipients into work.
Judge rules against FDA's confiscation of abortion pills, orders them returned
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — A federal judge yesterday ordered the government to return a dose of French-made abortion pills seized from a California woman who brought them into the United States earlier this month.
The federal Food and Drug Administration has not approved the RU486 pills, which are widely available in some European countries.
"She is right that the FDA has proceeded illegally, and she is entitled to the release of the drug to her," U.S. District Judge Charles P. Sifton said in his ruling.
Leona Benten was stopped by Customs Service officers after she arrived on a flight
from London on July 1 carrying a dozen RU486 pills, enough to terminate her pregnancy, which is now in its seventh week.
Lawyers for the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy argued in court that the seizure of the woman's pills at Kennedy Airport violated FDA procedure.
Following Sifton's 25-page ruling, Justice Department lawyers asked for an immediate hearing to request that he delay carrying it out pending a government appeal. The judge did not immediately rule on the request.
Benton was not in court yet. The center filed suit on Benton's behalf last
week, asserting the government violated its own administrative rules by confiscating the pills.
Drake S. Cutini, a Justice Department lawyer, said that UR486 was clearly not an approved drug and that the FDA could legally bar its importation.
The pill is popular in England and France and is widely considered to be a safe and effective means of abortion for up to seven nine weeks after a missed menstrual period.
RU486 was developed by the French pharmaceutical company Roussel-Uclaf. According to the center, it has been used by more than 100,000 women.