FAYETTEVILLE — A thankful doctor says thanks
I have been providing abortions in Fayetteville as a routine part of my Ob-Gyn practice since the fall of 1974.
When I started providing abortions, there were several other physicians in and around Fayetteville already providing this care. By November 1983, there were 13 physicians in the area providing this service.
After all the other doctors were frightened off this practice by a few religions fanatics picketing their offices, I became "the local abortionist" - a thing I never intended to become, and frankly, never expected to be when I came to Fayetteville to raise my family, practice Ob-Gyn and deliver babies.
In January 1969, when it became much easier to find a physician to do a safe legal abortion, state law still demanded several hoops be jumped by anyone wishing to obtain this service and required the procedure be done in the hospital. Two Fayetteville physicians went to the hospital board, to other physicians, churches and civic groups in town and told them what they intended to do. They started providing abortions here and were soon joined by several other M.D.s, Ob-Gyns, general surgeons and family doctors.
When I came here to join Dr. Jim Mashburn, he was uncomfortable with the idea of providing abortion care and asked that I not provide this service either. However, in 1974, a friend brought in his 13-year-old daughter who turned out to be a few weeks pregnant. I told him that while I didn't provide abortions myself, I would send her to one of my Ob-Gyn friends who would take good care of her, that I didn't provide abortion care because I didn't want to be called "the local abortionist." But I did end up doing it for her and a few other young women over the next few years, and this continued until the protesters that followed Ronald Reagan's election made it more and more uncomfortable to provide this service.
In the summer of 1984, I became the only physician in Northwest Arkansas providing this service. I had become the "dreaded" local abortionist.
I did an Ob-Gyn residency because I loved delivering babies. But after I became the local abortionist, I was forced to deliver babies by myself for the next few years, an exhausting practice. At the end of December 1991, I gave up my obstetrical practice to run for U.S. Congress, continuing to provide abortion care and do gyn practice. During the few months of doing Ob-Gyn without the Ob, I discovered how exhausted I was and how much I liked to sleep through the night.
So on this, my 74th birthday, I am finally convinced that what I have done for these last 35 years, though I haven't delivered babies for almost 19 years, has brought me all the happiness and the fulfillment that I once sought from doing Ob-Gyn.
I love my work, I love my family, I love my Fayetteville community and I love my place in it.
William F. Harrison, M.D. Fayetteville
Let's support two high schools
There's no joy in defeating a millage. Most people want what's best for our children's education. But, sometimes, we must stand up to what is seen as a poorly conceived idea.
Fayetteville High School is still overcrowded and in need of repair. The school board and superintendent must move away from their allegiance to a giant school on the current campus and realize that building a new, smaller school and upgrading the existing one is the best option for Fayetteville students.
Fayetteville has a great school system due to our students, their parents and our teachers, but for years I've heard complaints and seen problems in our system's leadership and administration. We've wasted too much time chasing the dream of the biggest, most expensive school. The proponentspushed with the support of both local papers, the chamber of commerce, our mayor and ex-mayors, mass mailings, phone trees, even sending letters home with children that told their parents how to vote (is that legal?).
The opposition was completely unorganized. We had no group pushing our ideas, and yet, the millage was defeated soundly. Nearly 60 percent of voters did not like the plan. I hope the school board and superintendent don't try to salvage their personal visions and have us vote yet again on basically the same option.
As a representative democracy, we need to heed the voice of the people. That voice defeated the idea of a giant high school that would now include ninth graders. We want something different. If the school board refuses to look more sincerely at the idea of two schools of 10th through 12th grade, we should push for new elections.
I'm certainly not against quality education; I'm a high school teacher. I am for two high schools. I am for better educational environments for our teenagers. Smaller schools have been found to help create this.
Let's hope the school board and superintendent take the time to read the current studies on optimal school size. Let's hope they talk to the University of Arkansas' College of Education about quality learning environments. I hope they drive up to Springdale and talk with Dr. Rollins about their two high schools, including how they paid for them and what plans they have for a third one.
The First Continental Congress' final declaration (1774) urged Americans to "encourage frugality, economy ... and discourage every species of extravagance." We can have two high schools without being wanton in our desires. We can have high-quality education without profligate spending. Fayetteville has spoken, and what I heard was both hopeful and realistic.
Tx Trumbo Fayetteville
Opinion, Pages 4 on 09/20/2009