43 Years After Roe V. Wade and We're Still Fighting for Our Rights!

The 43rd Anniversary of Roe V. Wade This article was written by NWPC Sacramento member, Tim Rooney with permission to share with the NWPC CA members. Today marks the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade,  a 7–2 Supreme Court decision that struck down a Texas statute making abortion illegal except where the life of the mother was in danger. Stop and think about that for a moment. Many of us have had children who have gone on to have children since that decision was handed down and women are still fighting the erosion of their reproductive rights.  Even though In 1968 the UN Conference on Humans Rights proclaimed "Parents have a basic human right to determine freely and responsibly the number and the spacing of their children."  And Amnesty International declared that “Sexual and Reproductive Rights are Human Rights:” From the 1950’s through 1961, the drug thalidomide, prescribed for morning sickness, contributed to gross birth defects and disabilities of over 10,000 children. In 1962, Sherri Finkbine, a local Arizona celebrity, unknowingly ingested the drug while pregnant with her 5th child.  After the local hospital (not clinic) canceled the therapeutic (and therefore legal) abortion because of fear of prosecution Ms. Finkbine attempted to go to Japan but was denied a visa by the Japanese Consul.  It was in Sweden that she was finally able to obtain the procedure. The attending obstetrician reported that the fetus was too badly deformed to identify its gender.  Many feel that it was the Sherri Finkbine case that changed public opinion and led to the abortion reform movement. DNC Chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, in a New York Times Magazine interview, said she saw “a complacency among the generation of young women whose entire lives have been lived after Roe v. Wade was decided.”  Is that true? You are only one election away from losing your right to choose. Think about that this today and then visit the NWPC CA website to find pro-choice candidates (State Assembly, Senate, and Congress) in your area.  We are still interviewing candidates and will post updates as soon as we endorse new candidates.  You may also wish to view the websites of local NWPC caucuses to find endorsed candidates who are running for local office. Read the editorial in the Sacramento Bee, titled "The abortion wars rage on 43 years after Roe v. Wade." U.S. News and World Report Opinion page has an Op-Ed titled "Reproductive Freedom at Risk."