by Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains
Thirty-nine
years ago the highest court in the land recognized that women and
families, not politicians, should have the right to make their own
medical decisions without government interference in the landmark case
of Roe v. Wade.
Prior to the January 1973 ruling, over 1,000 women died each year in
the United States as a result of illegal abortion. But since that date,
anti-choice lawmakers have worked to roll back the ruling on Roe v. Wade. This, despite the fact that polling consistently shows that a majority of Americans support Roe and respect the decisions individual women make about their own reproductive health and pregnancy.
In 2011, anti-choice politicians across the country did just about everything in their power to undermine Roe and restrict access to safe and legal abortion care along with access to family planning and Planned Parenthood health centers.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, in 2011, state legislatures
passed more than triple the number of abortion restrictions than in 2010
— the highest ever. Twenty-four states enacted 92 new abortion
restrictions in 2011, shattering the previous record of 34 adopted in
2005.
“The 1973 Roe v. Wade decision made a crucial difference in
the lives and health of American women and their families,” said Vicki
Cowart, PPRM CEO and president. “But 39 years later, we are expecting
2012 to be a year of extremes as lawmakers and anti-choice groups use
women’s health as a diversion from the real problems facing Americans.
Already Personhood Colorado has announced it will attempt for a third
time to get a ‘personhood’ amendment on the 2012 ballot.”
If passed, ‘personhood’ could result in outlawing birth control, in
vitro fertilization, and abortion, even in the case of rape or incest,
effectively rolling back privacy rights gained as a result of Roe v. Wade. In
2012, Planned Parenthood is drawing a line in the sand and using every
tool at our disposal to motivate supporters to defend against the
overreach of anti-women’s health legislators.
To help show how far access to reproductive rights have come since the early 20th century, and how far back we still have to go, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains is releasing a video entitled “Don’t Rewind Roe” to mark the anniversary of the landmark case.
With grassroots supporters in every state, Planned Parenthood is
working aggressively in 2012 to defeat legislation that threatens to
take away women’s health care and coverage.
