Abortion Rights Threatened by Supreme Court

Author: Laura Erickson-Schroth and Jena Siegel

Is feminism dead? Certainly it has come a long way in the past few decades. However, one issue that is being heavily disputed in Washington these days -- and threatens to undo 30 years of progress -- is the right of a woman to maintain control over her own body. On Jan. 22 and 23 we attended the "Never Go Back" conference in Washington, D.C., organized by the Feminist Majority Foundation in honor of the 30th anniversary of the historic abortion rights case Roe v. Wade. The conference was planned in response to recent threats to women's reproductive rights in the United States and abroad. Currently, the constitutional right to a legal abortion hinges on a single vote in the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court's last affirmative decision on abortion was a narrow 5-4 vote in the 2000 Sternberg v. Carhart case. Women's reproductive rights are in jeopardy because our president and the majorities in both houses of Congress support anti-abortion laws and may soon appoint a Supreme Court Justice.
There were 400 students representing 40 states and 114 campuses across the country in attendance at the conference. Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation, addressed the students first, urging each and every individual to take responsibility for women's reproductive rights in the future. Other speakers included Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood; Kate Michelman, president of NARAL: Pro-Choice America; Kim Gandy, President of NOW; Sen. Barbara Boxer (D- Calif.) and Dr. Jane Smith, CEO of Business and Professional Women. These powerful and passionate women spoke about the significance of shifting the national debate of reproductive rights from a polarized, objective stance to a more personalized understanding. Stressing the strength in diversity and collectivity, they emphasized the role that each individual could play in protecting reproductive freedoms, especially on college campuses.
On the second day of the conference, student attendees visited Congressional offices. In the meetings with senators, house representatives and offices of the legislators, students voiced the importance of protecting women's reproductive rights and encouraged senators to ask justice nominees their position on abortion and support a filibuster if a nominee is anti-abortion. After the president nominates a candidate, 60 out the 100 senators must be in favor of a vote in order for it to take place. If 41 senators declare a filibuster, or what is known as a "delay or prevention of action", the president may be forced to choose a candidate with a more favorable stance on abortion rights. Without a filibuster, a justice whose vote will overturn the Roe decision may be appointed, thus putting the lives of many women in danger. As then-Governor Bush stated in 1994, "I will do everything in my power to restrict abortion" (http://www.nevergoback.org/).
Why is this issue important to us as college students? Many of us take for granted that fact that abortion is an option. What if it no longer were? It may seem like a far-fetched idea, but those days are closer than we think. Although abortions are currently legal, they are often unsafe, unaffordable and limited by state laws. Since 1995, 335 state laws have been passed restricting reproductive freedoms. These laws include parental consent and notification laws, bans prohibiting Medicaid coverage of abortion and 24-hour waiting periods in which women are often forced to wait at least 24 hours between the time they see a doctor for an abortion and the time when the abortion is performed. Other laws may eventually prevent women who live in states where abortion is illegal from traveling to another state to have the operation. It may also become a felony to assist a woman in traveling outside of her state to obtain an abortion. Presently, the lives of doctors performing abortions, clinic workers and other supporters are often in danger, as are the lives of women who choose to have abortions. Even the small freedoms that we currently hold, however, are in jeopardy.
If Roe is overturned, the right to a legal abortion will most likely be taken away in many states that are dominated by anti-abortion majorities. According to Feminist Majority Foundation statistics, 12 million illegal abortions were performed before Roe v. Wade. If abortion is outlawed, women will once again turn to unsafe back-alley abortions, risking their lives because the law no longer protects them. Thousands of women died from back-alley abortions when legal abortion was not an option, and this number has decreased dramatically now that women can choose to have an abortion under the law. To overturn Roe would be to take a drastic step backwards for women's rights and health.
As college students we know firsthand how important it is to fight for women's reproductive rights. Sex happens. Even when partners are extremely careful, things can go wrong. What would you do if you got pregnant? Or if your girlfriend did? Would you like to know that she had the option of an abortion? If we do not speak out about a woman's right to choose, we may one day find ourselves in a difficult situation, with one very important option no longer available to us. It is time to stand up, raise our voices and vow that we will never go back.

Jena Siegel is a psychology and philosophy double major from Purchase, New York. Laura Erickson-Schroth is a psychology and pre-med major from Brooklyn, New York.