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SEPTEMBER 22, 1999, WEDNESDAY, FINAL EDITION

SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. A22; LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

LENGTH: 1433 words

HEADLINE: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

BODY:
CONTRACEPTIVE EQUITY IS A HEALTH RIGHT

Editor -- California has made real progress toward addressing the issue of unwanted pregnancies. Evidence of this can be seen in the recent announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services that California led all states in reducing the rate of births to unwed women in recent years. According to HHS, the number of children born to unmarried women dropped 5.7 percent in proportion to total births.

California has an important opportunity to make additional progress with the passage of the Women's Contraceptive Equity Act by the state Legislature. Gov. Gray Davis should sign the legislation.

Requiring health plans to provide contraceptive coverage for women is simply providing for their basic health. Women spend 68 percent more on health-care services than men -- the majority of which is made up of contraceptive-related services. Nearly 70 percent of women who have health insurance don't have contraceptive coverage. Oral contraceptives have been around for 39 years, but only 19 percent of health plans cover them.

The Women's Contraceptive Equity Act can help to further reduce unwanted pregnancies and put an end to this discrimination. Gov. Davis should act to protect women's health by signing the Women's Contraceptive Equity Act into law.

MARGIE FITES SEIGLE

Chief Executive Officer

The California

Family Health Council, Inc.

Los Angeles

.

PROP. 187 LIVES ON

Editor -- It was no surprise on September 13 when the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles rubber-stamped the dubious "mediation" of the Proposition 187 lawsuit between Gov. Gray Davis and the other initiative opponents. However, Prop. 187 voters ought not believe for a moment that the measure is "dead."

In fact, Governor Davis has only hoisted himself on his own petard. Under the California Constitution, state agencies may not refuse to enforce a statute on grounds that it is unconstitutional unless an appellate court has first made a determination that the statute is unconstitutional. At this time, there is no final judgment from any appellate court addressing the constitutionality of Proposition 187. There is only a "settlement" between the parties to this lawsuit -- the governor, the ACLU, and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

So concerned that the California Constitution would sterilize their settlement, Gov. Davis and the plaintiffs stipulated that their agreement "shall have the same preclusive effect . . . as though litigated through the appellate court level."

In spite of the parties' feeble attempts, Proposition 187 is still enforceable against any state agency bound by it. In short, the governor's political machinations did not kill Proposition 187, but instead, revived it. Stay tuned.

DAVE STIRLING

Vice President

Pacific Legal Foundation

Sacramento

.

TECHNO-FOOD' DANGERS

Editor -- Since Mr. Bruce Robertson uses my name to begin his September 10 letter and then directly calls me a "self-serving elitist" I feel it is important to respond. First and foremost, all I want is healthy, safe food for all people in all countries. How does this make me elitist?

Secondly, how does my concern about the safety of bioengineered crops and food make me "self-serving?" I do not stand to profit, in any way, if bioengineered crops fail or succeed. I am simply concerned about health -- the health of everyone, including Mr. Robertson. How does this make me self-serving?

Mr. Robertson's primary assertion seems to be that bioengineered crops and food will help provide cheap food for "the masses." And I agree that this is great, but if and only if bioengineering is not profoundly damaging to the ecosystem, or to humans. Unfortunately, this has not been proven to be the case!

The simple fact is that the biotech/agrochemical industry has not proven the safety of bioengineered crops and food. Monsanto, Dow, Dupont, etc., have released genetically altered and manipulated DNA into the environment on a huge, commercial scale before establishing safety for the ecosystem, beneficial insects, animals or humans. They have not proven that this technology will not cause a serious ripple-effect of damage throughout the ecosystem, which sustains us and all life on the planet. This is asinine. And it violates every rule of ethical science.

Mr. Robertson, and we all, are very foolish if we are going to blindly trust the huge, for-profit, agrochemical corporations. The overriding concern of the agrochemical companies is their financial health; not my health, Mr. Robertson's health, or the health of the public.

JON GILBER HEIKEN

Mill Valley

.

FIGHTING VIOLENCE

Editor -- Senseless, stupid, brutal violence breeds fear and frustration, but fear and frustration seldom lead to solutions. The American Jewish Committee now calls for Congress to ". . . hold full-scale hearings on groups that preach hatred and glorify violence." Have they pondered the works of the House Committee on Un-American Activities? My 1957 "Guide to Subversive Organizations" lists a number of Jewish organizations. The dreary spirit of Sen. Joe McCarthy thanks the AJC for their trust in the patriotic works of our politics.

We are told that "Law enforcement must be empowered, within constitutional limits, to monitor and infiltrate hate groups . . ." I had thought that J. Edgar Hoover had been doing that since the 1930s, but perhaps he overlooked a few (like the Mafia). The heartfelt reference to "constitutional limits" is very comforting until one remembers Waco, the internment of Japanese Americans in World War II, Prohibition, a century of Jim Crow laws and the Dred Scott case.

The AJC wants "firm gun control laws." Perhaps we should enforce the Machine Gun Act of 1934, the Gun Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 and the other thousands of gun laws on the books. Sadly, the AJC's touching faith in Big Brother government and "new" laws is a weak response to the real and "dramatized" violence gushing from our TVs.

PETER J. BUXTUN

San Francisco

.

BRIDGE COMES FIRST

Editor -- As someone who lives in the East Bay and uses the Bay Bridge, I am asking San Francisco to elect a mayor who will not only support rebuilding the eastern span of the bridge immediately, but will actually make it happen.

It's atrocious that Mayor Willie Brown supports development of Yerba Buena Island over saving lives by aligning the bridge on the northern side of the island. Until the eastern span of the bridge is rebuilt, an earthquake could kill or injure as many as 4,000 people. San Franciscans, please elect someone who will put the lives of people before money, and rebuild the bridge now.

ELAINE VILLAMIN

Berkeley

.

GIVE FAZIO A CHANCE

Editor -- I retired from the San Francisco Police Department last year after 26 years of service. The various articles regarding District Attorney Hallinan's performance in office came as no surprise to me or hundreds of other police officers. District Attorney Hallinan continues to degrade the office of district attorney, as well as ignore the safety of the citizens of San Francisco by his actions and performance.

I, as well as many other San Francisco police officers, have worked with and know Bill Fazio and that is why he has overwhelming support from the rank-and-file. San Francisco needs a district attorney who is competent and who will bring a fresh approach to dealing with the criminal element seeded in the city.

The citizens of San Francisco made a mistake by not electing Bill Fazio as district attorney in the last election. Let's hope they do not repeat that mistake.

MICHAEL KEYS

Hercules

.

HALCYON DAYS

Editor -- I have an idea. For one day -- I haven't decided which day yet -- everyone should take a stand against this "Brave New World" we live in by doing the following:

1. Leave your pager at home, turned off.

2. Leave your cell phone at home, also turned off.

3. Send a business correspondence via the U.S. mail, using an actual envelope and a real stamp.

4. Refuse to fax or e-mail something to someone.

5. Watch TV, but leave the remote control between the couch cushions and turn the set on and off and change the channels by getting up and walking over to it, pushing the buttons by hand.

6. Walk past the automatic teller and visit your local drug store or bar and get money by cashing a check.

7. These are small steps which I feel will bring us back to those halcyon days of yesteryear.

Maybe. Maybe not. But it'd be fun, wouldn't it?

MIKE ZELINSKY

San Francisco

LOAD-DATE: September 22, 1999

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