The Los Altos/Mountain View branch of the American Association of University Women hosted a Zoom meeting Jan. 22 to mark the 49th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.
Three speakers reviewed the history of reproductive freedom in the U.S. and the latest threats to abortion access.
Professor Leslie J Reagan of the University of Illinois, author of two books and a specialist on the history of women’s health in the U.S., reminded the group that before Roe v. Wade, tens of thousands of women died each year in the U.S. due to botched abortions. After Roe v. Wade invalidated abortion bans across the country, the maternal mortality rate dropped between 35-50% in each state.
“This was the greatest public health success since the discovery of antibiotics,” Reagan said.
Before Roe v. Wade, hospitals in major cities had “dirty wards” where the victims of botched abortions were cared for, according to Reagan, where doctors could see the racial and economic inequity between those who could afford to fly to California for a safe procedure and those who could not. In New York, for example, the maternal death rate for black and brown mothers was four times that of white mothers, Reagan said – and the wards were not safe from invasion by police officers seeking death-bed confessions to implicate abortion providers.
Reagan described what a post-Roe world would look like if the Roe precedent is over-turned by the Supreme Court in the case currently being examined.
“We are not in the 1960s, but we will see reproductive rights refugees from the states which will ban abortion, and we will see deaths,” she said.
Reagan did not foresee many prosecutions of women who have obtained or tried to obtain an abortion, but foresaw punitive public exposure, humiliation and shaming, with little or no pretense of caring for the woman’s health. She expects the reappearance of forced physical exams, as was done during the War on Drugs, and said surveillance will be much worse, given modern technology.
Pivotal time
Christina Krysinski, counsel and associate director of policy at NARAL Pro-Choice Amer-ica, outlined the current situation of reproductive rights.
“This 49th anniversary of Roe v. Wade is a pivotal time,” she said. “The current Supreme Court case being considered involves a Mississippi law which bans abortion after 15 weeks. There is no way that the court can uphold this law without overturning Roe v. Wade.”
The decision will come down in June, right in the middle of the election cycle, and the crisis will move to state legislatures, Krysinski said.
The recent law making an end run around Roe v. Wade in Texas offers a minimum of $10,000 to anyone who successfully sues someone who has obtained or assisted a woman in obtaining an abortion. This vigilante act effectively denies abortion to the 7 million women of child-bearing age in Texas – one-tenth of U.S. women are affected, Krysinski noted.
The Supreme Court, by allowing the law to be implemented despite appeals, has also given the green light to other state legislatures to introduce copy-cat legislation. As many as 28 states could enact or reactivate a total ban if Roe is overturned, leaving the states which protect abortion services to manage the demand. California could see as many as 1.5 million “reproduction refugees,” she said.
Krysinski emphasized that action must come through voters demanding reproductive freedom at the state level. She linked voting rights and reproductive rights, and encouraged the audience to elect “champions for choice” at the state and federal levels.
State Sen. Josh Becker, who represents Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View, acknowledged the role that both NARAL and the AAUW have played in promoting reproductive rights over the past half-century, and quoted Coretta Scott King: “Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.”
He noted that the budget proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom includes funds to provide scholarships and training for medical students who will provide abortion care. Legislation approved in the last session protects out-of-state refugees from criminal prosecution. Pending legislation offers funds to assist refugees with medical bills, proposes funding for medical infrastructure including clinical facilities and bars spreading of disinformation.
Becker agreed with Krysinski that this is a pivotal moment. Due to redistricting from the 2020 Census, there will be tremendous turnover in the California State Legislature. He urged the audience to pay close attention to what candidates say about key issues such as climate change and reproductive rights. He also invited the audience to get involved in the political process by supporting candidates with donations and volunteer time.
Members of the Los Altos Stage Company performed a scene from the troupe’s upcoming production “Roe,” which focuses on plaintiff Jane Roe.
Many attendees prepared pro-choice signs for display in a group screenshot at the close of the meeting, distributed to attendees to share on social media.
For more information on the LA/MV branch of the AAUW’s activities and membership, email Susan Ware at [email protected].
Allyson Johnson is a member of the AAUW.
