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The Central Question Is, Who Decides?
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16652 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
10 / 1989 |
2,018 Words |
| Author
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Kate Michelman
Kate Michelman is executive director of the National Abortion
Rights Action League. |
In July, the Supreme Court made abortion a dominant issue in American politics. The aftershocks of the Court's stunning ruling in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services are already being felt. Consider some of the early activity:
Louisiana's legislature earned the dubious distinction of being the first to restrict reproductive choice by mandating 10 years of hard labor for anyone performing an abortion. Within a week, Louisiana's legislators had accepted the Supreme Court's invitation to send doctors to jail, women to the back alleys, and individual freedoms to the dark ages.
In Florida, Gov. Bob Martinez called a special session of the state legislature for October. Florida will have a chance to follow Louisiana's shameful example. And Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, and other states are poised to consider restricting the right to choose abortion as early as this fall.
In late July, when America's governors convened in Chicago, abortion was not on the agenda--but it was on everybody's mind. The governors know the days when they could remain silent on choice have ended.
In August, when thousands of state legislators attended the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislators in Tulsa, abortion was a key topic.
In the first congressional test since the Court ruled, choice advocates won an unexpected and significant victory when members of the House defeated an amendment that would have taken the right to make decisions
... (1998 of 12080 Characters)
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