From the Washington Post:
It’s hard to get 70 percent of Americans to agree on much of anything these days. But, for the first time, one of those things is Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. According to a new poll from NBC News and the Wall Street Journal, released on the law’s 40th anniversary Tuesday, fully seven in 10 Americans say they would oppose the overturning of the Supreme Court decision. And perhaps more remarkably, 57 percent say they “feel strongly” that it should not be overturned. In other words, politically speaking, it’s time for Republicans to stop talking about Roe v. Wade.
From The Guardian:
Outlawing abortion doesn’t lead to a lower abortion rate, and some of the countries with the highest abortion rates on the planet are places where it’s illegal. So if outlawing abortion doesn’t mean fewer abortions, what purpose does it serve? Punishing women and making their lives miserable, apparently – illegal abortion doesn’t mean fewer abortions, it means more dangerous procedures and higher maternal mortality rates. Thirteen per cent of maternal deaths around the world result from unsafe illegal abortions. Despite knowing the key to a lower abortion rate, the so-called “pro-life” movement refuses to use it. Instead, they feign concern for babies while doing absolutely nothing to help children and everything in their power to make women’s lives harder and more dangerous if those women dare to believe that they’re entitled to a fulfilling sex life.
From Slate:
Today marks the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and thus 40 years of an angry, hyper-religious, sex-phobic movement that has sought every avenue it can to turn back the clock, and return abortion to the black market. Anti-choice efforts have been successful in reducing access to safe, legal abortion, but for the past 40 years, pro-choice forces have maintained at least one clinic in every state in the country.That might not last. Now various red states compete to see which can be the first to end legal abortion within their borders first.
From Jezebel:
Last week, I attended an event hosted by Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health in honor of Roe v. Wade’s big 4-0. The organization invited three prominent abortion providers to talk about abortion’s history and future. But only two doctors were actually listed on the event invitation: Dr. Linda Prine, medical director and founder of the Reproductive Health Access Project, and Dr. Willie Parker, an obstetrician gynecologist who is one of the plaintiffs in the Center for Reproductive Rights case opposing a law that would shut down Mississippi’s sole abortion clinic. The third doctor, Dr. Curtis Boyd, has been administering abortions since the pre-Roe ’60s and describes himself as a “very active” speaker who travels around the country advocating for the cause. He’s commonly advertised as a “special guest,” because the FBI fears for his safety and doesn’t want too many people to know his whereabouts. “I’ve become accustomed to it,” Boyd told me. “This is the life I have chosen. I want to make a political difference, so I’m willing to take the risk that comes with speaking out.”
Happy important anniversary, women’s rights.
