Roe v. Wade
A Twentieth Anniversary Retrospective
By Bruce Allen		

This month marks one of the most significant anniversaries in American 
history: the twentieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade,  the landmark U.S. 
Supreme Court decision guaranteeing women the constitutional right to 
reproductive freedom.
In January of 1973, a young lawyer by the name of Sarah Weddington led 
the fight to overturn repressive abortion laws in her home state of 
Texas. Her brilliant argument before the nationÕs highest court firmly 
established a womanÕs right to choose, as protected by our constitutional 
right to privacy.  
Twenty years later, that right still stands, albeit eroded by relentless 
attacks from anti-choice extremists. Roe  barely emerged intact from last 
yearÕs Supreme Court decision in Casey upholding state laws that restrict 
abortion rights. Consequently, pro-choice activists have sought other 
avenues, such as passage of the Freedom of Choice Act, to guarantee this 
most basic right.
While there is much to celebrate with a new pro-choice president and new 
champions of choice in Congress, there is still much work to be done. 
CARAL asked several prominent pro-choice activists to reflect on twenty 
years of Roe v. Wade  and the past, present, and future of the pro-choice 
movement in America.

Pat Miller, founder of Family Planning Alternatives, the first abortion 
services clinic in Santa Clara County; former board member of CARAL 
and NARAL:

We founded FPA in February 1972, eleven months before Roe was decided. No 
one was doing abortions in Santa Clara County then, except a few doctors 
who charged very high fees. We wanted a facility that wouldnÕt turn 
anyone away for lack of money.
I still remember the excitement after Roe came down, but it wasnÕt six 
months before anti-choice forces began to chip away at it. The harassment 
of clinics wasnÕt quite as widespread at first, although I have horrible 
memories of men standing in front of the clinic playing tape recordings 
of babies crying. On one anniversary of Roe, they filled Christmas tree 
ornaments with fake blood and smashed them on our walls. In those years, 
we sometimes felt like voices at the bottom of a huge pit, shouting with 
no one listening. 
Over the past several years, people have begun to listen, and the recent 
elections show that. But we canÕt expect the battle to end. I retired 
three years ago after twenty years in the field, feeling that it was time 
for some younger activists to infuse the movement with new creativity and 
energy. But looking back over those twenty years, I am very proud of how 
I spent my career.

Jamienne Studley,  Executive Director, CARAL North:

The early Ō70Õs, when Roe v. Wade was decided, was an exhilarating time.  
Building on the lessons of the civil rights movement, activists mobilized 
against the war in Vietnam and for womenÕs rights.  Grass roots action 
got results; political change and social progress looked easy.  A lesson 
of the two stormy decades since is that freedom is precious and demands 
eternal vigilance.  While it is glorious that the pendulum is swinging 
back toward respect for individual liberties, womenÕs rights, and freedom 
to choose, this will only galvanize the anti-choice forces into 
increasingly intense and divisive efforts to roll back the clock.
Freedom of choice will continue to be the battle ground of a profound 
societal debate about the right to privacy, reproductive choices, the 
role of women, the meaning of family, the status of people of color, the 
purpose and scope of government, the place of religion in secular 
society, and ultimately, the meaning of liberty.  We must hold our 
ground.  

Toni Guy, CARAL board member and Community Educator for Planned 
Parenthood of San Mateo County:

Over the last several years, IÕve worked with many young women who had 
unplanned pregnancies they did not choose to carry to term who would have 
died if there was no legal access to abortion.  I never want to have to 
do for my daughter what my mother did for me, which was to take me to 
Tijuana for an illegal abortion. 
We need to see Roe codified in the Freedom of Choice Act. The US. is 
falling behind in contraceptive research, and in other womenÕs health 
issues. ItÕs ridiculous to be able to go to the moon, but not be able to 
prevent pregnancy. ItÕs ridiculous that the Army got more funding for 
breast cancer research than the National Institutes of Health. We need to 
move forward.

Kathleen Brown, California state treasurer:

Even with overwhelming public support for choice, the election of two 
pro-choice senators and the election of a pro-choicepresident pledged to 
appointing pro-choice judges, now is not the time to become complacent.  
This anniversary reminds us of the progress that has been made in the 
last 20 years, but more importantly, of the work that still lies ahead.  
This anniversary must be a rededication of ourselves to extending the 
broader interpretation of choice to all areas of our livesŃto economic, 
as well as reproductive, choice.

Selisse Berry, director of the northern California chapter of the 
Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights (RCAR): 

ItÕs wonderful to be able to celebrate twenty years of reproductive 
justice for women, and to see all the new energy that comes from the 
election of a pro-choice president and several members of Congress. ItÕs 
important to remind people that when abortion is illegal, it doesnÕt 
decrease the number of abortions, only increases the number of deaths. 
We can now deal with some more complex issues surrounding reproductive 
freedom for women, such as the controversies over birth control methods 
such as Norplant, Depo-Provera, and RU-486. And we have to work 
constantly to remind people that the majority of mainline denominations 
and the majority of Jewish organizations support a woman's right to 
choose. We will be celebrating this historic anniversary with an 
interfaith service on Sunday, January 24, at 4:00 pm at Temple EmanuEl, 
at Arguello and Lake in San Francisco.

Margaret Crosby, attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of 
Northern California who has won many legal victories for reproductive 
rights, including last year's defeat of the state's parental consent law:


Roe v. Wade  has made a significant contribution to freedom and equality 
in America. Reproductive choice has allowed women to participate in the 
economic and political life of the community. RoeÕs  symbolic importance 
is equally profound, in respecting womenÕs moral decisions about 
pregnancies, based on individual conscience, values and religious 
beliefs.
The 20th anniversary of Roe v. Wade  is an occasion for celebration. But 
it is also the time to renew our commitment to the unfinished struggle 
for reproductive rights. We must secure meaningful reproductive freedom 
for AmericaÕs poor women and young women, who are the victims of 
repressive abortion policies. The important challenge in the years ahead 
is to make RoeÕs  promiseŃthat childbearing is a personal decisionŃa 
reality for all women. o