FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com OCTOBER 29, 2015 • THE COURIER SUN 29 oped A LOOK BACK letters Blame Planned Parenthood for ‘sex-crazed society’ Regarding Councilman Rory Lancman’s Oct. 8 op-ed on Planned Parenthood: Let’s get the facts straight. Planned Parenthood did over 300,000 abortions last year. They get over $500 million in taxpayer money. In his editorial, Councilman Lancman mocks the morality of the 1950s. Back then, kids were not handed out condoms in the public schools. Back then, our children were allowed to pray and read the Bible in the schools. Today, the public schools are like war zones where no learning is taking place. Today, thanks to Planned Parenthood and the media, American children are being turned into sex-crazed animals who have abortions without even notifying their parents. Selling baby body parts is something the Nazis would do. This kind of thing should not happen in America. In America, a child’s right to life should be worth more than any Lamborghini. Michael Mullaney, Bayside Editor’s note: The letter refers to a highly publicized, hidden camera video released in the summer in which individuals affiliated with Planned Parenthood purportedly claimed to have sold parts of aborted fetuses for profit. We must clarify some factual points. This video was later revealed to have been heavily edited by its producers, distorting what the individuals actually said. The doctors acknowledged that fetus parts are used and sold for medical purposes, but not with the intention of making a profit. Planned Parenthood and its affiliates received more than $500 million in federal funding last year, but none of that money was used for abortions, according to The Washington Post and other media outlets. A house divided against itself cannot stand The Civil War resulted in 750,000 deaths and countless loss of limbs and fortunes. The nation was preserved by a flow of blood that no external war has ever cost the United States. It was the culmination of iron dogmas that did not permit compromise. The current American political divide which has been brewing since the election of Bill Clinton is now a trench that seems incapable of peaceful resolution. Americans have had ideological conflicts in the past that were hotly debated in the houses of government and the streets of our cities but ultimately settled by both sides coming to the table. Now compromise is deemed a betrayal. With compromise off the table there could only be a mindset of winning at all costs and the devil with the results. The rhetoric against our national institutions is historic. Judges are condemned for not agreeing with partisan advocates. They are demonized as “activists” and yet when in concurrence they are “constitutional scholars.” Members of the House and Senate view the other party as enemies. The Republicans are a house not only divided but enraged. When political discourse becomes hatred the situation of today could easily be expected. Violence is more than a potential. Attacks upon our very system of government are more than a probability. One can easily understand these possibilities by threats to have the government close, not pay its bills and have infrastructure crumble. History can be repeated. Examine post- World War I events of Germany to have a chill down your back! Ed Horn, Baldwin Letters to the editor do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Schneps Communications or its employees. New Yorkers must resist warehousing children with developmental disabilities BY MURRAY SCHNEPS My first child, Lara Schneps, was born with profound mental disabilities and severe cerebral palsy. Lara was also blind and totally dependent upon others. It was 1968 and no community services were available for Lara. The only services available were those promised at the infamous Willowbrook State School, the world’s largest residential institution for the mentally disabled. A new Children’s Therapy Center promised to provide daily therapy to help Lara become the most she could be. The neglect of all and the abuse of many at Willowbrook are now well known. As state funding for adequate staffing eroded, the more the neglect and abuse increased. Moreover, none of the promised services ever existed. The only way services would be won for Lara, and others like her, was to close Willowbrook and similar facilities and replace them with a system of small community residential homes. My views and activities were thought by some to be radical but I was simply a father fulfilling his promise to his child. This was a life-and-death battle we could not afford to lose. My former wife, Victoria Schneps-Yunis, and I became parent activists. I became the first named plaintiff on behalf Lara in the class action seeking to close Willowbrook. I handled lawsuits vindicating the rights of the developmentally disabled, was vice chairman of the Willowbrook Review Panel and recently wrote a book about my experiences, “I See Your Face Before Me.” Winning the Willowbrook case in 1975 brought a 40-year period that established a new system for delivering humane and appropriate services to the developmentally disabled in small residential homes. What began as an experiment became a wonderful conversion from an archaic institutional system of warehousing human beings to the peacefulness of real homes. However, history repeats itself and the state of New York seems intent on returning to the abuse of human warehousing. The state has failed to open additional small community residential homes, yet every day, additional handicapped babies are born. Every day, parents of developmentally disabled children residing at home will get older. Many parents will reach the point where they are no longer able to provide services to their children and some parents will die. Without additional residential homes, where will these children be cared for? Simply, the state will house them “wherever.” “Wherever” means placement in underutilized or empty hospitals and nursing homes. That means institutions — and they exist. Neither government agencies nor our politicians care about the pleas for fairness and decency. This is not a game. It is life and death and they are returning us to institutions. The current budget cuts and the state’s failure to fund new small residential homes is nothing new. It is merely an old reaction to current budget concerns despite empirical data that institutions do not save the state any money. The state’s newly created “Transformation Panel Forums” is the latest hoax designed to distract and redirect our energies. Put pressure upon the state, Governor Cuomo, the Department of Health, the Department of Social Services and the Office of People with Developmental Disabilities demanding that they strengthen the current system of small residential homes. It is time to unify and take action. The vindication of the developmentally disabled is a lifelong fight. We must be realistic and truthful. We are thankful for the almost 40 years of peace and sanity, but we will not quietly let it be taken away. Remember that those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them. We must not let that happen. A Look Back Scores of visitors will converge on Machpelah Cemetery in Glendale on Halloween to visit the grave of famed escape artist and magician Harry Houdini, who died on Oct. 31, 1926, approximately 89 years ago this Saturday. Born Ehrlich Weiss, Houdini gained fame across the globe for his death-defying feats, including being restrained in a strait jacket and being thrown off a bridge into a river, only to emerge free moments later. Houdini died in 1926 from an intestinal infection related to a ruptured appendix, which he suffered after being punched in the gut while on stage. To this day, Houdini fans hold a vigil graveside every Halloween remembering him, some with the fantastical hope that he may make the greatest escape ever. We want to see your pictures of Queens of yesteryear-- from 10 to 100 years ago! Email them to us at editorial@queenscourier.com, or mail printed images to The Queens Courier, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361. All printed images will be carefully returned to you.
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