THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF ROE V. WADE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 4, 2003
THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF ROE V. WADE
HOUSE TO OUTLAW SAFE, LEGAL ABORTION PROCEDURES
BILL ON WAY TO PRESIDENT’S DESK
FIRST STEP TOWARDS A TOTAL BAN ON ABORTION
DOCTORS COULD FACE CRIMINAL CHARGES FOR GIVING WOMEN MEDICAL ADVICE IN A MATTER OF WEEKS
Washington, DC – NARAL Pro-Choice America President Kate Michelman predicted that with the passage of legislation banning safe abortion procedures in the House today, President Bush will be the first president in the nation’s history to criminalize safe abortion procedures. American women will not tolerate this threat to their health and their rights.
"Anti-choice leaders should be very careful for what they wish for because when this bill is signed into law, the sleeping giant that is pro-choice America will awaken," said Michelman. "President Bush and anti-choice leaders in the Congress have crossed the Rubicon towards rolling back Roe. This is a broad, unconstitutional bill which sacrifices women’s health and future fertility on the altar of extreme right wing ideology and there is no question that Bush will sign it into law."
Michelman pointed out the irony of the President and the Congress passing legislation removing rights from its citizens at a time when we are fighting for democracy at home and abroad.
"In America we don't lose rights, we fight to protect them," said Michelman. "It is simply unthinkable to imagine an America where women cannot be guaranteed the right to medical advice and care that is based on their needs and not determined by the threat of criminal penalties. Unless the Supreme Court strikes the new bill down, doctors will face criminal charges and prison sentences for giving women and their families the best possible medical care."
Respected medical organizations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association, among many others, oppose these bans. Only three years ago the Supreme Court found these very same bans unconstitutional in Stenberg v. Carhart.
"The best way to reduce the number of abortions is to assure women have access to contraceptives, affordable health insurance and family planning services, not criminalize doctors who provide them." Michelman concluded, "Anti-choice lawmakers have their priorities backwards. They should be working to promote policies that give women full control of their lives and health and the ability to prevent unintended pregnancies, not banning safe, legal abortion procedures."
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