Newsroom - California National Organization for Women

Newsroom

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACT: Lori Vandermeir
communications@canow.org
916.442.3414

CALIFORNIA NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN RELEASES STATEMENT
ON 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF ROE V WADE

Sacramento, CA, January 22, 2013 – The California Chapter of the National Organization for Women (California NOW) today announced a statement on the 40th anniversary of the Roe v Wade decision.

"On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court overturned a Texas interpretation of abortion law, making abortion legal in the United States. The Roe v. Wade decision held that a woman, with her doctor, could choose abortion in earlier months of pregnancy without legal restriction, and with restrictions in later months, based on the right to privacy.

During the case, forty-two briefs were filed on behalf of "Roe." One of those came from the California chapter of the National Organization for Women.

While we certainly celebrate the 40th anniversary of the landmark decision, we also acknowledge that 40 years later, there is still much work to be done.

Access to a safe and legal abortion has always been about women’s full participation in our society. It’s about women being able to decide when and if to begin and/or expand their families, which is why it is constantly under attack. Last year, 19 states enacted 43 new measures to limit abortion access. That came on the heels of 24 states enacting similar measures in 2011.

With each new restriction, the impact is being seen disproportionately on women who are not white and middle-upper class. Instead, those most impacted by anti-abortion legislation are lower-income women. Six in ten women who have abortions already have one child, and according to the Guttmacher Institute, most chose abortion so that they can take care of the children they already have. When laws are passed that impose unnecessary regulations which close clinics, force women to check with more than one doctor prior to an abortion, or make women wait a full 24 hours after seeing a doctor to have one, poor women are the ones affected. Women who can’t afford to take more than a few hours off work, or can’t afford childcare, or do not have a car to travel (sometimes to another state) are the ones negatively impacted by these new restrictions.

While we’re lucky here in California that our state assembly and senate is pro-choice, we unfortunately have some of the most extreme anti-choice voices in Congress and local officials who have been quietly trying to shut down clinics in their communities. We also have Crisis Pregnancy Centers popping up in most of our major cities and Birth Choice mobile units are on our college campuses.

So as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the landmark Roe v Wade decision, California NOW will continue – as we have done for more than 40 years – to fight for women’s equality and empowerment. And the right to a safe and legal abortion."

To learn more, visit our website at www.canow.org.