News stories from Monday January 22, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The Supreme Court legalized abortion. In the first three months of pregnancy, abortion is now a matter between a woman and her doctor. The judges ruled 7-2 to make abortion legal, with Justices White and Rehnquist dissenting; Justice Blackmun wrote the majority decision. States may regulate abortion in the second trimester but only for the benefit of the mother's health, and states may forbid abortion in the last three months of pregnancy except to save the mother's life.
Planned Parenthood spokesman Dr. Alan Guttmacher praised the decision to give mothers "freedom of choice." U.S. Catholic Congress spokesman James McHugh said that the court is ignoring the rights of unborn children. The plaintiff in the abortion case said that she had to have her four children adopted because of her husband and because she couldn't get abortions. The plaintiff is a former mental patient.
[CBS] - The Supreme Court agreed to a hear case concerning state aid to private schools and upheld a lower court decision forbidding Fathers Phillip and Daniel Berrigan from visiting Hanoi. The court also upheld the power of the President to classify security documents without judicial review. [CBS]
- North Vietnam's Le Duc Tho and the Viet Cong's Madame Binh arrived in Paris for the final peace negotiations. Henry Kissinger also arrived in Paris and had no comment on the peace talks. The negotiators will meet at the Hotel Majestic, the scene of weekly public talks in past years. South Vietnam Foreign Minister Lam has come to Paris too, and he told a reporter that Kissinger and North Vietnam will sign the agreement first; the others involved will sign later. Lam stated that South Vietnam won't sign the same piece of paper as the Viet Cong, but that issue can be gotten around. [CBS]
- Press secretary Tom Johnson is reporting that former President Lyndon B. Johnson has died of a heart attack, which he suffered at 3:40 p.m. EST. Johnson was taken by plane from his ranch to Brooke Army General Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Johnson had two severe heart attacks previously, the last one only a few months ago. [CBS]
- South Vietnamese troops with U.S. air support repelled an enemy attack near Saigon. [CBS]
- A Jordanian jet crashed on landing in Kano, Nigeria. The plane was carrying religious pilgrims to Mecca. It is estimated that 180 persons were killed; the rest were severely burned. [CBS]
- Former Attorney General John Mitchell and former White House aide Charles Colson denied Time magazine's report that they sanctioned the Watergate bugging. The magazine quotes E. Howard Hunt as telling this to four men as he recruited them for the operation. Hunt and those four have pleaded guilty.
In court today, Alfred Baldwin testified. Attorney Gerald Alch cross-examined Baldwin's spying activities for James McCord. Baldwin stated that he thought the bugging was legal. Judge John Sirica asked Baldwin to whom at Republican headquarters he delivered the tapes. Baldwin said that he doesn't remember; Judge Sirica seemed very skeptical about this.
[CBS] - General Motors announced the recall of over 3 million 1971 and 1972 model year cars. Buicks, Chevrolets, Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs are being recalled for installation of a steering device. [CBS]
- Public school teachers are still on strike in St. Louis, Philadelphia and Chicago. [CBS]
- Former President Lyndon Johnson is dead at age 64 from a heart attack; his prestige was a casualty of the Vietnam war.
Johnson grew up poor in Texas and went to Washington as secretary to Texas congressman Richard Kleberg. Johnson married Claudia Taylor and ran as a New Deal candidate for Congress in 1937. He served in World War II and won the Silver Star. Back to Congress, where he then won a seat in the Senate. Johnson had his first bad heart attack in 1955. His fortunes improved when his wife inherited investments in an Austin radio station. By 1960 L.B.J. was the most powerful man in the Senate, and he had a powerful ally in House Speaker Sam Rayburn.
Johnson accepted the position of Vice President under John F. Kennedy, but said that he felt the vice-presidential position was a disappointment. After Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 1963, Johnson became President. Johnson took up Kennedy's programs and started some of his own; he called for the "Great Society" legislation and presided over the creation of Medicaid and Medicare. He won a landslide victory in 1964 and passed the 1965 voting rights bill, saying that the cause of Negroes is everyone's cause and America must overcome its legacy of racism.
Then President Johnson was forced to turn to foreign affairs. The 1968 Tet offensive turned the people of the U.S. against the Vietnam war. In March of 1968, Johnson announced he would not run again for president. In 1969 Johnson retired to his ranch in Texas.
[CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1018.81 (-7.38, -0.72%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| January 19, 1973 | 1026.19 | 118.78 | 17.02 |
| January 18, 1973 | 1029.12 | 118.85 | 17.81 |
| January 17, 1973 | 1029.12 | 118.68 | 17.68 |
| January 16, 1973 | 1024.31 | 118.14 | 19.17 |
| January 15, 1973 | 1025.59 | 118.44 | 21.52 |
| January 12, 1973 | 1039.36 | 119.30 | 22.23 |
| January 11, 1973 | 1051.70 | 120.24 | 25.05 |
| January 10, 1973 | 1046.06 | 119.43 | 20.88 |
| January 9, 1973 | 1047.11 | 119.73 | 16.83 |
| January 8, 1973 | 1047.86 | 119.85 | 16.84 |