European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 16, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Byte Marlein new York times lawsuit before foe supreme court concerning the rights of pregnant workers has split the women s movement Dawn the Middle with Betty Friedan and organizations such As "9 to5" arguing on one Side and the National organization lot women and the american civil liberties Union on the other tha Case concerns a California Law requiring that employers give women disabled by pregnancy or childbirth up 10 four months of unpaid leave from their jobs. When Lillian Garland a receptionist at the California Federal savings and loan association in los Angeles tried to return to work two months alter giving birth to a daughter the Bank said her Job had been filled. Backed by the chamber of Commerce and other employers groups the Bank used Garland s Casa to Challenge the stale Law. Arguing that it provided special treatment Lor women and violated Federal equal employment Laws by creating unfair discrimination against men. But the Issue of whether the California statute violates Federal Law which is lobe argued before the supreme court next fall has created almost As much dissension in the ranks of the women s movement As among pm plovers. All the women groups said they believed that female workers should not lose their Obs or taking Lime off for childbirth. And All of them Are Strong advocates of proposed Federal legislation Ilia i would guarantee parental leave for both mothers and fathers. But the groups fiercely disagree about a fundamental question at Legal strategy is ii More dangerous than helpful for women to to Given special Protection under the Law now and the Acle said they believed it was inherently wrong to single out pregnant women for special treatment even favourable special treatment. 1 we Don t think women Are weak and in need of special assistance in that Way said Joan Berlin associate director of the Acle s women s rights project. One of the things that offends me is that Laws like the California one persist in using sex. As the primary characteristic for dividing up the world. Obviously the workplace must accommodate pregnancy and the needs of parents but i believe the Central Issue is that people should t be red Lor absence from work because of any temporary disability whether it s pregnancy or a hernia. The notion that pregnancy is a special disability is a stereotype and stereotypes Hurt us. The Only Way to eradicate thai is to put pregnancy in the context of the whote Range of things that happen to people Over a  Berlin in a Friend of the court brie has asked the supreme court to interpret the California Law go As to provide up to four months unpaid leave Lor any disabled worker but Friedan "9 to a and several other women s groups and unions support the California Law. Even if it applies Only to women. I understand the fetus of now and the Acle because they Are based on a Long history of special Laws being used to prefect women from the right to compete for Equality in the workplace said Friedan founding president of now and author of the feminine  Bull think the Lime has come to acknowledge thai women Are different from men and that there has to be a concept of Equality that takes into account that women Are the ones who have the babies. We should t be stuck with always using a male Model trying to twist pregnancy into something that s like a women s movement split overnights of pregnant workers hernia. At a minimum women should note fired because they get pregnant that s  Friedan said she herself had been fired irom a Small no longer existing news Agency when she became pregnant. Despite tha California Law arid similar Laws in a handful of other states., most women can still be tired if they take time off for childbirth. By most Estin vies Only 40 percent of the women in the workplace now have he right to to protected maternity leave. In California alone hundreds of women who have lost their jobs have filed complaints with the stale fair employment Agency since a 1984 Federal District court ruling that struck Down the slate  a . Court of appeals subsequently overturned thai ring the cases remain Frozen pending the supreme court s action. To can t afford to wait and see what Congress wit do Friedan said. It s a shame that there is such disagreement within the women s movement on ills Issue but if we Don t formulate a new doctrine of Equality Hal takes account of pregnancy Well loss a generation of working  additives in food concern Consumers by Keith Schneider new York times Page 16" Massachusetts has adopted regulations Hal will prohibit processed Apple products including Appl juice and applesauce sold by baby food maters from containing a carcinogenic farm chemical. The action Isth latest by Public health officials in several states to Monitor More closely the purity of food even a financing Lor Federal monitoring programs declines. It also reflects an awareness and urgency among Consumers about a Complex Public health Issue the widespread use of toxic substances to produce Iresh and processed food. Farmers Rety on a Broad array of chemicals to help them achieve the same kind of efficiency usually associated with mechanical industries. Grain and fruit growers spend $10 billion each year spraying pesticides and fertilizers to help their crops grow bigger and Lastor. Livestock producers use steroids Lemale growth hormones antibiotics and other substances to do the same thing for cattle Swine and poultry. For Many of these chemicals Trace amounts remain in food in the supermarket. For year scientist have argued about the potential risks to Public health associated with Long term Low level exposures to toxic chemicals in  with the National agriculture chemicals association for instance say that the health risk from drinking tap water which contains the Carcinogen chloroform is much greater. Other health specialists Blama toxic substances in food for contributing to number of chronic health problems among them rising incidences of cancer birth defects and neurological disorders in children. Moreover lateral regulatory agencies have acknowledged thai Many of the ionic substances used in food production have not been sub acted to rigorous health an safety testing. The environmental Protection Agency Tor example discovered it 1979 that thousands of salary studies used by manufacturers to gain marketing licenses for hundreds of pesticides had been fabricated. Since 1972, the Epa has operated program to Relesa major pesticide ingredients but at the current Pace the program w3 not be finished until the Al not or second decade of the 21 at Century. In he meantime untested pesticides will continue tabs used. Tow uncertainty has pushed Load safely to the lop of the list i consume concerns. A series of polls in recent years by the food marketing Institute a Washington based food retailers irad association have shown that toxic residues rank with cholesterol at and Salt As unwelcome components of food. State agriculture and health officials have recognized this concern and acted More aggressively in recent months to keep Waychof the Levels of chemicals in food. In California Lor instance inspectors for the department of food and agriculture this Spring have intercepted shipments from Mexico and Central America of peppers melons and other fruits contaminated with pesticides. The increased monitoring state officials say is the result of an incident last summer during which 1,000 people in eight Western slates were sickened by California watermelons contaminated with an illegal insecticide. N Massachusetts the chemical i question was Damino Zide. A Plant growth regulator manufactured and sold by uniroyal under the Trade name alar. The chemical he fcb Apple Farmers produce uniform size Fidfl that Ripen at the sometime develop deeper colors and grow firmer which prolongs shelf and storage we. But a series of studies in the late 1970sindicated that Damino Zide caused cancerous tutors in Laboratory animals. Scientist Ware also worried about another substance Unsymmetrical . Or Uduh. A breakdown product present in increase quantities after alar is heated in processed food. Uduh which la also a component of rocket fuel May be a More potent cause of cancer than its Parent scientists said. The environmental pre Lection Agency has proposed to lower the allowable Levels of Damino Zide in food from 30 parts per million to 20. Massachusetts Public health authorities however studied the scientific data held hearings and voted o phase in new and More stringent standards Damino Zide will be banned from baby food by october 1987 and prohibited in most other heat processed Apple products by october 1988, said or. Bailus Walker jr., the stat commissioner of Public health this is a carcinogenic compound and it s in the food Supply. We have received over5,000 letters from people commending u3 for this action the stars and stripes wednesday. July 16,1986