European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 16, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 a column the stars and stripes monday july 16,1990marilyn Geewax nasal a awesome the great thing about being a teen Ager is that you have absolutely no historical perspective. Your mind unburdened by memories easily accepts whatever is happening at the moment As Normal. The most amazing events arc no big Deal. In july 1969, i was just about to turn 14 years old. When the astronauts landed on the Moon that month i was impressed but scarcely overwhelmed. After All i had grown up a Matching astronauts continually push the limits of outer space. Every few months or so my father would Wake us kids up before Dawn to watch the launches so that we could get to see Quot history being made. By the time the astronauts were knocking Golf balls around on the Moon my thoughts were along the lines of a what took you so Long a while my parents were brimming with astonishment. When we watched Neil Armstrong jump Down onto the Moon my father kept muttering thugs like a i have to Pinch myself to make sure in a not dreaming a and my Mother kept saying a i wish a could have lived to see  their Awe seemed so old fashioned. 1 mean they were still trying to get used to color television to say nothing of lunar broadcasts. In his 1970 Book a future Shock a author Alvin Toffler gave a Catchy name to the feelings my parents were experiencing. He said technological advances were coming so rapidly that Many people were suffering from future Shock or the a dizzying disorientation brought on by the premature arrival of the  in 1990, i think i am now suffering from a new. Syndrome a past  i keep thinking that american engineers Are the smartest in the world and then i become overwhelmed by a a dizzying disorientation brought on by a premature longing for the  in recent years the pitiful performance by Nasa has left me stunned. I grew up assuming that the space Agency could do anything and that by the time i reached retirement age i would be Able to catch a space bus for the Moon to play a Little Golf. Ever since challenger blew out of the sky in 1986,1 have been astounded by nasal a incompetence. The events of recent weeks have left me even More shaken. First we find out that someone forgot to test the Flora Lewis . Doctors Paris a Lucien pave head of the Recd organization of economic and Community development which groups 24 industrialized countries was asked what worried him most on the horizon . Budget and Trade deficits protectionism recession a it depends if you talk Short term or Long term a he answered. The serious concern out about a decade Quot is  third world countries Are building up population at a rate no imaginable economic development Effort could accommodate. As things Are going pressures will become explosive launching invasion tides of desperate people trying to throw themselves on labor markets. They wont be armed but will set Forth in overwhelming multitudes. Paye is a Frenchman and he was thinking mainly of burgeoning african populations. Already immigration from the South is the most abrasive political Issue in France strengthening the nationalist ultralight. The Issue is sharpening in Italy a country with no tradition of absorbing the poor from abroad. For the United states the push will mount primarily from latin America. But the stakes Are global because development Emi Rosment peace will be mirrors on the Hubble space Telescope. Oops. Then we discover fuel leaks in the shuttle Fleet. Hey stuff happens. Now two astronauts in training for 1991 missions have been grounded for breaking flight safety rules. Geez they were just having a Little fun. I can to help but wonder what today a teen agers think of All this. They weren to even bom when Nasa seemed infallible. Do kids now assume its Normal for . Engineers and astronauts to make stupid mistakes i wonder if they also Are assuming that eventually the French or maybe the germans or somebody who still cares about excellence in technology will take Over space travel. Maybe the teens Are figuring that when they reach retirement age Lufthansa will be offering non Slop flights to Mars. Do they think i sound like an old lady when i sit listening to reports of Nasa goofs and mutter things like a i have to Pinch myself to make sure in a not dreaming a Geewax is an editorial writer Lor the Atlanta Constitution Cox news service have test Case to Challenge militants put at risk if the number of people and capacity to sustain them is thrown into such imbalance. That is Why deliberate restraint of science in providing reproductive Choice is beyond comprehension. The United states is hobbling a humane approach by its obsession with abortion. In the name of a right to life a american militants Are disregarding conditions of life for children around the world nutrition health care education at Home famine disease War abroad. During the Reagan administration funds for United nations population control programs were Cut because they might be used for abortions. In the last couple of years threats from american groups have blocked distribution of a Pill that prevents development of a fertilized egg. It is ru486, called the a French pills because it was developed by a French biochemist Etienne Emile Baulieu who won a 1989 Lasker award for his discovery. The citation said it provided a Quot Safe effective Quot Means for preventing pregnancy and avoiding surgical abortion. Made by the French company Roussel Claf rij486 has been widely tested in France and other european countries. In april reports on 40,000 cases of use listed Only two a incidents a without damaging consequences. The anti abortion lobby in the United states succeeded in preventing Legal importation of the drug under Federal Law. Worse by threatening a general Boycott of pharmaceuticals from the German company Hoechst which controls Roussel Claf the lobby persuaded Hoechst to shut Down production. The order was reversed in France by the government which had a minority share so the Pill is available Here under medical supervision but not much elsewhere. Now a group of san Francisco doctors has decided to test a California Law that permits import of banned drugs for experimental purposes passed to enable investigation of As yet uncertified treat ments for aids. The French newspaper liberation quotes or. Bernard Gore As saying a like your minister of health we think this revolutionary discovery is the moral property of  he pointed out that some 300,000 women die yearly of botched abortions mostly in the third world and that Law or no Law some 300,000 women in California undergo abortions every year. The difference Between a contraceptive Pill and ru486 is that it can be taken after insemination. It works in the Early stage of pregnancy by countering the hormone progesterone which serves to attach the fertilized egg to the uterus. The world development forum called ru486 a a breakthrough for devel Oping  Baulieu said a it is a far safer method of abortion than any operation in countries where medical facilities Are  but the forum said Hoechst has refused to License production in China and the world health organization is ducking the Issue. A we have no position a a spokesman said. A Hoechst spokesman said his company had yet to make a final decision which would be based on medical reports chemical trials a and other issues such As opinions in society. We will take note of their  that is a Way of saying that the threat from american militants of commercial loss on its other products has intimidated Hoechst to the Point of depriving the world of an urgently needed safeguard. The san Francisco doctors have a Chance to prove the Pill should be legalized in the United states and open the possibility of worldwide distribution they deserve support. 0 new York times the opinions expressed in the and cartoons on this Page repro of the authors and Are in no it considered As representing the the stars and stripes or to states government