TY a

Health Unit |
_ promotes
- awareness

The- ease with which

~ most of us can talk to those

_ around us, and in turn hear
: - their responses, is some-
aS ‘thing taken for granted by
: “nearly everyone — except
the four percent (average)
of the population who
_ have a speech or hearing

_. disorder.

“On May 3, at the beginning of

~ Speech and. Hearing Month,
- Skeena Health Unit Manager
“Mike Corbeil decided to spend
one day communicating with
- nothing “but artificial speech

-aids. He admits it was a

. 7 frustrating experience.
“<7 found myself hiding in my

‘office, hoping I wouldn’t get

any telephone calls,’’ he said.

’ The devices Corbeil used to

“communicate were Handi-
«Voice, a keyboard that can

-. “reproduce about 200 .common
words and phrased expressions

~ in a robot-like voice, and an

*electrolarynx. The latter is an

. appliance about the same size
~ Abortion — continued trom page 7

and is being questioned _ the

‘rule of law originating from the

- . Magna Carta that said that ‘the

_ “story,

_. Jaw of God is above the king”.
- If the rule of law (scripture) was
“mot above the king (state) then
basic principles of law could be
“changed according to the dic-

tates of those in power — with

obvious implications, Thus the

_ sanctity of life issue (that all life
-is precious and originates from

~ God) versus quality of life issue
“. (man has the potential to control

‘his own environment via selec-

.' tion, genetics, etc.) was launch-

ed.

In -the working-out of this
questioning, many closets were
‘unlocked and the contents let
out into the light of day. Just as
sunlight exposes, decomposes
and cleanses, let us examine

' some of these ghouls:

-. Women were no longer willing
to-put up with the double stan-

-dard imposed on them: that
society would wink ata man’s |

pre-marital or extra-marital
fling while women were severly
ostracised. Women in trouble

_ were forced to give up their
babies in secret. This was surely

a seedbed for abortion — an old
_man’s inhumanity to

_ man.

- The advent of the birth con-

7 - trol pill allowed women ‘sexual

~ liberty and equality’.
~ formerly understood as im-
. morality
- morality’.
“termed ‘being sexually active’,
= Free love, the rebellious called it
- a if it feels good-do it.

“What was

‘new
was

became ‘the
Promiscuity

In 1970 there were three abor-
tions: fot every 100 live births in

-Caiada. This has gone up to

16.2 per 100, an increase of 540
percent. British Columbia has

the: highest abortion rate in

Canada, terminating 26.1 babies
for éach 100 born live (1985

statistics).

ace Review — Wednesiay, May 18, 1988 : :

Skeena Health Unit audiologist
Skeena Mall demonstrating tec

disorders.

Monika Bernauer spent a recent weekend evening in the
hnical aids used by people who have speech or hearing |

and shape as an electric razor
that has to be jammed up under
the user’s jaw and emits
vocalizations by electronically
picking up muscle movements
when words are mouthed.. |

_ The electrolarynx came: to
prominence when Cariboo MLA
and ex-Highways Minister Alex

Fraser used one to address the

legislature in reply to charges of
misleading the House over the
Coquihalla Highway cost over-

runs. Fraser lost his voice to

throat cancer about a year ago.

_ Both speech aids are difficult
to use and require concentration

on the part of the listener to
understand. “‘It takes a lot of
patience,’ Corbeil remarked.
“With practice you can develop
intonation.’ .

~ In another Spetch | and | Hear-
ing Month awareness project,

Health Unit speech pathologist

But has breaking the shackles

of traditional standards in so-.

ciety brought equality, libera-
tion and happiness? Dr. Peter
Van Herk of Terrace says no.
“An unwanted pregnancy is a
very traumatic thing to suffer
whether it ends in abortion or
not,’ he said. ‘Most women I
see want to be talked out of

_abortion, they just need to know

there is someone who cares and
will stand by therm; that they
have’ another choice. These
women generally feel alone and
used, and abortion seems the on-
ly way out and is often en-
couraged by friends and family
-a quick fix.’

‘It’s interesting to note,’’ he
continued, “that 10 percent of
the women who insist they need

and want abortions and. are .

given permission, to protect

‘their life or health, consistently
- don’t show: up. for the

operation.”’
Elaine Graham of Kitimat,

‘who chose to keep her child in

1980 said that dealing with how

the woman feels. about herself is .

most important. ‘‘I felt worth-
less,” she said, ‘‘and I thought
others felt I -was worthless.
Abortion seemed a viable solu-
tion but in my heart 1 didn’t
want that. With the help of
friends, Kayy Gordon in par-

ticular, it was worked out.” Her |
- little girl, named Lili Kayy is to-

day her greatest treasure.
Graham went on tO Say:
‘‘Anti-abortionists glibly - say
‘adoption, not abortion’, but it
would be a terribly wrenching
thing to give up a child. Not to
know what had happened to it
would be worse than prison.”
She feel that the laws regulating
adoption could be more flexible,

‘incorporating the needs of the

birth mother and circumstances.
Meanwhile, childless coup-
les wait for years to adopt. A

Terrace couple has adopted one:

beautiful baby from Brazi) and -

are expecting another, also from

Brazil, soon.

It seers abortion is more than
just a simple issue ‘‘between a
woman and her doctor’’.. Peter
Van Herk is concerned that the
mentality of abortion can foster
something sinister in the charac-
ters of men and women. Who is
disposable in society? What
about the increasing numbers of
the elderly, the handicapped, the
sickly? In 1989 would Helen
Keller be aborted?

‘Surely men’s: and women’s
choices go beyond abortion —

beyond. birth control. We have a
choice to guard how a child is-

conceived and the environment
that child is brought up in. ©
Other ghouls which have
come out of the closet and at-
tempted to perch. comfortably
on the liberal sofa are child
abuse, incest .and perversion..
‘These were heralded by a flood

of pornography of the most. -
violent and degrading nature, ,

depicting pleasure without joy.
The results are obvious, yet no

‘one’ seems to know what to do °

about it. AIDS; teenage suicide,

and family breakdown are in- &
demic. According to Statistics |
Canada, 11.3 of every 12.9:

suicides in Canada are teenagers

between the age of 15 and 19, .
The divorce rate has nearly
doubled since 1970, and violence J
in the streets of -our cities ‘is in-

creasing.

Is it possible as in the words of |

the song ‘“‘Bobby McGee’’ by
Kris Kristofferson that -“‘free-
dom’s just another word for
nothing left to lose’’? If free-
doms are not tied to a steadfast
base of morality in society for

the common good then could |

they be our downfall?
History says ‘‘yes’’. We all
earned it in grade school and/or

- marriage.
‘schools and they produce il-

“university — that moral -deca-
dence and lawlessness almost in-

evitably preceded the demise.of

-a civilization (ancient Rome be-

ing a prime example).
Ted Byfield putit succinctly i in

‘an article in the Christian ©

Renewal, December, 1987: ‘‘...
(man’s) humanity persistently
fails him. He establishes won-
drous plans for human advance-
ment, and humans cheat and
‘confound them. He creates un-

employment insurance and-peo- -.

ple refuse to work. He abolishes
censorship and ‘is deluged by
pornography. He permits. abor-

tion. to save life and is appalled .
to find himself annihilating it.

He eases divorce and destroys
He builds lavish

literates. He removes. want and

must contend with the: swanton. :

For human beings, it~ seems,
humanity makes a | very. poor
god. ”

"Maureen Fox and audiologist
Monika Bernauer - staffed a
~weekend display of demonstra-
. tion equipment at the Skeena

visit the Northern Motor |

Inn, for nightly -
entertainment.

—- 9085 Hwy. 16 East

‘ 635-6375

Mall.. Their wares included a

range of hearing aids, portable
hearing loss testing equipment,

the Handi-voice and’ elec-
trolarynx. Two other devices
gave people who stopped by the |
display an.idea of what it’s like ©
to have a speech or hearing im-
pairment.

By putting on a set of head-
phones and listening to Fox or
Bernauer speaking into a
microphone, the curious were
given a demonstration of what
the world sounds like through a
volume-adjustable hearing aid.
Another device, again with
headphones, sent-a delayed
signal of the user’s voice to in-

duce confusion and stuttering.
. Fox pointed out that, strange-

ly enough, the sound-delay can

-sometimes (but not frequently) -

help stutterers overcome the
probiem.

-- None of the technical equip-
ment, such the Handi-voice —
which costs about $600 — is
covered under the provincial
medical services insurance plan.

Speech and hearing awareness
activities will continue in Ter--
race during the remainder of .
May.

In court |

"In Terrace provincial court on
Tuesday, May 3 Colin Wesley
was fined a total of $100 for two
violations of the Federal |
Fisheries Act.

In Terrace provincial court on

Tuesday, May 3 Jackie Wesley

was fined a total of $100 for two.
violations of the Federal
Fisheries Act.

In Terrace. provincial court on
Tuesday, May 3 Robert Keeler.
was fined $75 for causing a
disturbance in a public place.

In Terrace provincial court on

‘Tuesday, May 3 Betty Flewin

was fined $500 and received a six-
month drivers license suspension
for impaired driving..

th Terrace provincial court on.
Tuesday, May 3 Larry Brown —
was fined $200 for a violation of _

_ the Federal Fisheries Act.

ret it’s at... ”

ESF ontERN

MOTOR

=|NN=
Re USI eLA Ne

- May 2 to May 21

Tom Mohr