Activists concerned over Bush's abortion stance

New president-elect of the National Organization for Women Kim Gandy announced last week that she would do everything in her power to put more women's rights supporters in political office and prevent "right-wing political extremists" from receiving federal court appointments. What concerns Gandy are possible vacancies on the Supreme Court that will be filled by justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade.\n28 years after Roe's victory, some pro-choice advocates are concerned about where Bush's administration is going with the national right to abortions. Sarah Weddington, winning attorney for Roe v. Wade, said "You can see things happen in slow motion. A car goes off a cliff and you see its trajectory without the danger being immediate. I worry most about the makeup of the Supreme Court. Their votes on abortion issues are always 3-3-3 or as in the recent Stenberg v. Carhart case (which argued the constitutionality of partial birth abortions), 5-4. Who gets appointed to the Supreme Court is extremely important.\n"Bush's actions, such as cutting off aid to overseas women, are not pro-life; they are simply anti-abortion," said Weddington. She also said that Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Patrick Leahy is pro-choice, but that she is worried about who makes appointments to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Committee, she said, will appoint people who are anti-abortion.\nWeddington added, "Frankly, (28 years ago) we had hoped that by now abortion would be a right for all women and that we wouldn't have to talk about it all the time. But we haven't gotten to that point yet."\nWeddington said there is speculation about three seats in the Supreme Court that may soon be open. Chief Justice William Rehnquist might resign because of lower back pain. Sandra Day O'Connor might resign, but she could also be elected Chief Justice. Justice John-Paul Stevens, who is pro-Roe v. Wade, could also resign, leaving David Souter, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Anthony Kennedy, and conservatives Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia.\nWeddington said there are names of potential jurists going around Washington, but nothing is official. She noted that the Bush administration seems to be shutting the American Bar Association out of the process of choosing justices. In past administrations, choices for justices were submitted to the ABA for review. The ABA gave their assessment of the candidates based not on their opinions but on their proven merit as justices.\n"I think that the Bush administration is trying to get the American Bar Association out of the process because the ABA might point out that they are choosing justices that are not qualified," Weddington said.\nDuring the past eight years of former president Bill Clinton's presidency, anti-abortion groups made progress at the state level but had little access to involvment with national policy. Now they are optimistic about the future of the pro-life movement under George Bush.\n"This is definitely a pro-life administration. Bush has stated that he will seek federal court justices who follow a strict interpretation of the constitution. Justice White, of Roe v. Wade, called Roe 'strip mining the constitution to find the right to abortion buried in the 14th amendment.' If you look in the constitution, this country is founded on the principle that everyone has the right to life," said Jones Derrick, Youth Outreach Coordinator of the National Right to Life Committee.\nJ.T. Finn, director of Pro-Life America and publisher of Prolife.com and Lovematters.com, said his organization wants to see abortion outlawed absolutely, even in cases of rape, incest and potential harm to the mother.\n"We realize as pro-lifers that being raped is horrible," said Finn. "But research shows that a woman who has been raped and has an abortion is even more traumatized than a raped woman who chooses to not to abort her baby. The woman will be emotionally and psychologically healthier if she makes the right choice."\nFinn also denied that harm to the mother was just cause for abortion. \n"All the Ob-Gyns that I have talked to said that there are no situations where the baby has to be killed to protect the mother," he said. \nMr. Finn also stated that abortion protects the perpetrators of incest. \n"If a young girl has a baby, everyone knows she's been violated. If she aborts, then whoever abused her can keep on doing it."\nWhile repeatedly vowing in speeches to protect life, both born and unborn, Bush has frozen the Healthy Start Program and cut the Maternal and Child Health Block Grants that provide health care to women before, during and after pregnancy.\n"George Bush seems to care about embryos and fetuses but not about children once they are born," said Weddington. "It costs money to raise children. The same people who feel virtuous for caring about a fetus don't want to spend any money on it when it is born. But it doesn't cost anything to care about a fetus before birth. Some anti-choice people really want nothing to do with the baby. They say the baby is the woman's business and the woman's responsibility, yet they also want to say 'A woman can't have any choice that I don't want her to have.' And I've observed some men who just love yelling at women and feel virtuous for doing it."\nPro-life groups argue that abortionists unjustly target young, unmarried, poor women. Derrick and Finn said there are more than 4,000 pro-life pregnancy crisis centers and that most of them will help a woman with food, clothing, baby toys, and diapers. Many of the clinics provide education and employment services to women and pay for some prenatal expenses such as ultrasounds, they said. Weddington disagreed. \n"There is not nearly as much real financial care and medical care for poor, unmarried pregnant women as there should be," she said.\nDinah Farrington, vice president of Public Policy for Planned Parenthood, responded to questions on the future of reproductive rights if Roe v. Wade is overturned. \n"Indiana law clearly states that abortion is legal," said Farrington. "Prior to 1973, abortion was legal in some states. Planned Parenthood and other organizations helped women who were pregnant and did not want to be by giving them counseling and referring them to those states where abortion was legal. And if Roe v. Wade is ever overturned, Planned Parenthood will continue to do what we did before 1973."\nAnd the overturn of Roe v. Wade, "while unlikely" will not be tolerated, said Farrington. "Women were having abortions long before Roe was the law of the land. There is a majority of people in this country who are pro choice and they will rise up with great anger if Roe is overturned."\nWeddington said the pro-choice movement will have to rely on younger people. \n"The younger generation is increasingly important as voters. Young people who have done clinic defense and have seen what women are up against, have seen the way that women are treated, have become profoundly involved."\n"I wish there could be a virtual reality experience of what our mothers and grandmothers experienced -- what life was like for women without contraceptives and without abortion, Weddington said. "Experiencing that would motivate young women to become seriously involved in the pro-choice movement"