Thursday marks the 42nd anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that affirmed women’s right to obtain a legal abortion.
At that time, the majority of states outlawed terminating a pregnancy, except in instances when it would save a woman’s life or in cases of rape, incest or major fetal problems. But as HuffPost’s Laura Bassett reports, access to the procedure continues to be challenged 40+ years later, with Republicans in Congress introducing a handful of new potential abortion restrictions in the first few days of the new 2015 legislative session alone.
“I’m fearful we may lose [the right to legal abortion] and lose access to safe care. And affordable care is still an issue depending on where you live,” Debra Hauser, executive director and president of the sexual health advocacy group Advocates For Youth, told The Huffington Post. The organization runs the 1 in 3 campaign, an effort to encourage women to share their experiences to help bolster political support for legal abortion care.
“Telling these stories is a personal action that becomes quite political,” added Hauser, 54, who had an abortion when she was 35. Here, on the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, she and seven other women (many of whom asked that only their first initials be used) discuss why abortion has mattered in their lives.
E, 68, California: “To me, this choice is a woman’s. It’s hers.”
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It was scary, lonely, and probably the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life up to this point, and I struggled for a year after thinking it was a very selfish decision. But now I realize what came of it. I’m pursuing my dream to become a special education teacher, and that wouldn’t necessarily have happened if I had a 4-year-old. I still would’ve been in contact with my abusive ex-boyfriend.
K, 38, Pennsylvania: “Roe v. Wade meant a future I could control.”
To me, Roe v. Wade meant a future I could control. I got pregnant when I was 16. I was a straight-A kid, thinking about college. I went to the doctor, because I wasn’t feeling well and the doctor asked, “Well, do you think you could be pregnant?” And I said “I don’t think so.” On the way home, my mom was silent, then she pulled over and asked, “What do you mean you don’t think so?” That’s how she found out I was having sex and that I was pregnant. She’s very conservative, and got really upset about it, but she actually ended up calling our insurance company to find out about coverage.
If I had that kid — and in my brain, it’s always a he — I probably would have been stuck in the little town where I grew up, no college, having to work really hard to raise him. Instead, I’ve gone to school, got a graduate degree, I run a non-profit and do a lot of work with the environment. I’m able to do those things, because I was able to make that decision.
These accounts have been edited and condensed.
