Today marks the 31st anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States and has generated fierce controversy ever since.
Roe v. Wade shook the nation in 1973, expanding reproductive options for millions of women. Nearly 45 million pregnancies have been terminated since then, according to the National Right to Life Committee.
“Roe v. Wade is important because it really guarantees a human the civil right to decide when and under what circumstances to become a parent,” Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Kitty Piercy said.
But Oregon Right to Life Executive Director Gayle Atteberry condemned Roe v. Wade.
“Its very decision has been the legal instrument to cause the deaths of … 45 million unborn children,” she said.
While both sides debate the morality of the decision, Roe v. Wade played an immensely important role in the women’s rights movement, law Professor Caroline Forell said.
“It meant that women mattered in the Constitution for the first time,” Forell said. “(It was) extraordinarily empowering for women.”
Forell said she graduated from college the year of the decision and knows women who traveled to Puerto Rico to obtain an abortion or got one illegally without a doctor.
Piercy agreed that the days before Roe v. Wade were dangerous for women who sought abortions.
“Many women died or were severely injured when they tried self-induced abortions,” she said.
Now, when a pregnant woman walks into a clinic, she can get a multitude of services.
“First, we make sure they’re pregnant,” University Health Center Director Tom Ryan said. “Typically, we’ll discuss options with them. Sometimes (students) will come in with their mind made up about what they want to do, but certainly we give them all the options. Abortion/termination is one of those. So is adoption.”
Ryan said students often come to the health center seeking advice about abortion.
“It’s not a terribly unusual situation,” he said. “Of course that’s why we emphasize contraceptive solutions.”
Ryan added that abortion providers in Eugene are few and far between.
“Many times, (students) need to go out of Eugene to access abortion services,” he said.
According to the Oregon Department of Human Services, 1,107 abortions were performed in Lane County in 2002.
History Professor James Mohr, who has written a book and testified twice before the U.S. Senate on abortion, said it is an issue that provokes passion on both sides.
“(Because) it’s so emotionally charged, involving questions of life itself, it has become a lightning rod for questions that people have a hard time considering separately (such as women’s rights and the status of morals),” he said.
The standing of the decision itself has received renewed attention recently given the makeup of the Supreme Court.
“Roe v. Wade is more in danger now than it’s been since it was put in place,” Piercy said. “We have a national administration in office right now that is trying to take away a woman’s right to choose. It’s a very dangerous time for these very important rights.”
Mohr agreed that abortion rights may be modified, but he said they will not likely be eliminated.
“The current court seems to be pushing back the dividing line away from a choice position,” he said. “But I don’t see even the current court eliminating the basic right. I think the debate will continue to be in the middle by matters of degree.”