Today Is 35th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade
Abortion rights activists will mark the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade today with their annual vigil on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court and rallies at college campuses.
Critics of the decision say the day is not an occasion to celebrate, the Trenton Times reports. They also are heading to Washington, D.C., for an annual “March for Life.”
Anti-abortion activists are buoyed by recent developments, the Kansas City Star reports. They point to citizen grand juries in Overland Park, Kan., that are investigating abortion providers; and the U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding a ban on so-called partial-birth abortions. The ruling in Gonzales v. Carhart prompted a flurry of state legislation to restrict abortions.
Abortion opponents also note recent statistics showing abortions have dropped to their lowest level since 1974, the year after the Roe v. Wade decision.
But at least one member of the Supreme Court doesn’t think it will go so far as to overturn Roe v. Wade. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in an October speech at an Atlanta synagogue that if she is wrong, the biggest impact will be on poor women, who won’t be able to travel to obtain an abortion in the states that permit it.
The ABA Journal covered the legal strategies of abortion opponents in a story last February, “Following the Beat of the Ban.”
