Celebrate Choice! 38 Years Of Roe v. Wade

On January 22, 1973, the United States Supreme Court struck down Texas’s criminal abortion laws, and declared most existing state abortion laws unconstitutional. They found that the right to decide whether to have a child is a fundamental right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

The Issue Of Abortion Brings Out The Best

The 7-2 decision in Roe v. Wade had an immediate and profound effect on the lives of American women. It also had a profound effect on my own life, arriving from England in the late 1970s, and being swept up in the excitement of working at a women’s health center. We were providing first trimester abortions, but on our terms: we hired the doctors and the nurses, and they had to follow an approach which treated the women who entered the clinic with respect, keeping them informed of exactly what was going on as it happened.

I came of age as a feminist working in that health center, empowered by the self-assured women who had been able to bring the clinic into existence thanks to Roe v. Wade.

And it became clear to me that women deserve autonomy over our own bodies, as we deserve control over our lives, and that the two are intimately connected.

And The Issue Of Abortion Brings Out The Worst

But while many people celebrated Roe v.Wade and all that it meant for women, others opposed the change. Opposition to abortions has increasingly turned physical and even violent – on Christmas Day, 1984, three abortion clinics were bombed, and those convicted called the bombings “a birthday gift for Jesus.”

Then came the blocking of access to clinics which provided abortion services, organized primarily by Operation Rescue, founded in 1986 and led by Randall Terry. I came face-to-face with Operation Rescue in Los Angeles in the 1990s where I saw Randall Terry’s organization in action.

Operation Rescue In Action

Their tactics? For young women making the difficult choice to have an abortion, some Operation Rescue volunteers planted human barricades in front of clinics, others carried oversize photos of fetuses in various stages and conditions, and still more carried placards like “What if Beethoven’s mother had had an abortion?” And the final touch? Terry bussed in choirs of young teens and preteens from Catholic schools, angelic voices singing “life” songs.

Seeing Operation Rescue in action only made me want to fight harder for the right of all women to make our own decisions about our bodies.

Further Attacks On Our Rights

But now we are seeing further attacks on our rights.

From Dr. LeRoy Carhart, courtesy of the Center for Reproductive Rights:

“As the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade approaches its 38th anniversary, the reproductive rights protected by the decision remain under direct attack by anti-choice forces that seek to once again make abortion illegal. With each new federal and state legislative session, multiple bills are introduced to further restrict abortion rights. Each new assault is one more attempt by these forces to either polarize Americans against all abortions or make all abortions harder and more expensive to obtain.”

Such attacks make it even more important to stand firm now, and seize this anniversary as an opportunity for celebration.

We must celebrate, and we must keep fighting.

Mental Health Can’t Get You An Abortion In Kansas If Legislature Has Its Way

Proposed Alaska Abortion Amendment Found Unconstitutional

Photo credit: Creative Commons - OpenDemocracy

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Martha E.

4:37PM PST on Feb 24, 2011

I DO celebrate the right to choose. I marched with my daughters for that right for them. It's always piqued me that the other side got the "right to life" label, because we are for women's lives! Roe vs Wade was about safe, legal abortions for women, the right to privacy b/w a woman and her doctor.

send a green star

Amber B.

11:06AM PST on Feb 1, 2011

think abortion clinics give a crap about women? you're in denial.
http://liveaction.org/blog/planned-parenthood-aids-sex-ring/

Lepidopter P.

1:07PM PST on Jan 27, 2011

Morris, as long as another life form is dependent on a network of blood vessels connecting its body to mine to supply it with nourishment and oxygen and to carry away its waste, my rights trump its rights.

12:40PM PST on Jan 27, 2011

Isha,
Simply not becoming pregnant isn't always as easy as it sounds. Condoms break, diaphragms slip, birth control pills interact with other meds and don't get absorbed properly into the bloodstream. Even the most conscientious user of contraception can have an unplanned, unwanted pregnancy.

As for adoption, there is no shortage of children in our foster care system now who need parents. Most of them will never be adopted because they aren't healthy white infants. Until every child already born has parents, don't talk to me about adoption as a panacea for unplanned pregnancies.

mary k.

6:14AM PST on Jan 27, 2011

she is not imposing her views. she is simply saying she's sorry for what she did. she is you know, also entitled to her beliefs. we don't want anyone's beliefs imposed on us either.

Beth M.

10:23PM PST on Jan 26, 2011

..sometimes..people learn to confront and understand their own weakness and then move on to understanding and utilizing their strength...x

Jill M.

8:35PM PST on Jan 26, 2011

Well Mary me being not pro-woman was a stupid comment...

I want people to have the choice of everything...adoption, birth and abortion...you seem to have it mixed up where is the Pro-life side only wants it their way or no way. It is their belief and that is right one...sorry doesn't happen that way.

Imposing religious views on how I carry a fetus is no ones business but mine...

7:27PM PST on Jan 26, 2011

that's a really stupid comment, she was not brainwashed, she chose to look for help. I'm happy she found something she can believe in. I'm sorry you can't accept someone else's happiness bc it doesn't suit your beliefs.

5:18PM PST on Jan 26, 2011

Yeah I think she was brainwashed Mary and I am still not sure she believes in what she believes in and being pro-woman has nothing to do with the comment I made. Sorry...

Is she really happy???

She is actually perfect for the Pro-life movement she nuts!!!

5:00PM PST on Jan 26, 2011

she was a weak woman with an awful childhood and had abusive relationships. if you were really pro woman, you would be happy that she finally found something she believes in.