Roe Vs Wade

Singing in praise of reproductive freedom, more than 100 people rallied here Thursday night in a candlelight vigil and march on the 25th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe vs. Wade. The abortion-rights activists were met in the downtown plaza by about two dozen abortion foes, who waved posters depicting bloody fetuses. Some demonstrators exchanged sharp words, but there was no violence.

Every four years, defenders of abortion rights proclaim that the fate of Roe vs. Wade hangs on the outcome of the presidential election. This year, they may be right. Through most of the 1990s and until recently, the Supreme Court had a solid 6-3 majority in favor of upholding the right of a woman to choose abortion. But the margin has shrunk to one, now that Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is retired and has been replaced by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.

Taking direct aim at Roe vs. Wade, lawmakers from several states are proposing broad restrictions on abortion, with the goal of forcing the U.S. Supreme Court -- once it has a second new justice -- to revisit the landmark ruling issued 33 years ago today. The bill under consideration in Indiana would ban all abortions, except when continuing the pregnancy would threaten the woman's life or put her physical health in danger of "substantial permanent impairment."

Thousands of abortion opponents gathered outside Minnesota's Capitol on Sunday to protest the 33rd anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision and to call for a ban on public funding of abortion. "We must stop abortion in our state," Scott Fischbach, head of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, told the crowd. "Things are changing in this country." The Minnesota Choice Coalition planned to celebrate the anniversary with a reception and two rock concerts.

South Dakota lawmakers crafted a direct challenge to Roe vs. Wade on Friday, passing a bill that bans abortions -- including in cases of rape or incest -- except for those in which the procedure is deemed necessary to save a woman's life. The sweeping measure, which Republican Gov. Michael Rounds said he was inclined to sign into law, seems certain to face legal challenge. Some abortion opponents say that is precisely the point.

Marching with evangelical purpose -- but with little sense that their convictions would quickly become law -- thousands of abortion opponents braved the cold and snow Monday to rally against Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that established a woman's right to end a pregnancy. "It's so obvious to us, our belief in the rights of the unborn," said Barbara Parker, who came to Washington from St. Joseph, Ind., with her three children and her husband, Geoffrey.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a challenge to its landmark 1973 ruling legalizing abortion by the woman once known as Jane Roe, who was at the center of the historic case. Without comment, justices declined to hear the appeal from Norma McCorvey and thus dodged a charged political debate. McCorvey's protest of Texas' abortion ban led to the Roe vs. Wade ruling establishing a constitutional right to abortion.

"Jane Roe," the plaintiff in the landmark Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision, has told the story many times: As a single mother struggling with emotional problems and alcohol and drug abuse, she agreed to play a historic role in the case that legalized abortion 32 years ago. Then, following her conversion to Christianity in 1995, she began to speak out against abortion.

Social conservatives relish the idea that Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's resignation from the Supreme Court has moved them one step closer to their goal of outlawing abortion. Liberals are vowing to fight any potential successor who would, unlike O'Connor, favor overturning Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 ruling that affirmed a woman's right to end a pregnancy.

The White House opened to the public Tuesday thousands of pages from the files of a young assistant attorney general but declared off-limits all the files from the years when John G. Roberts Jr., now a Supreme Court nominee, was a top government lawyer urging the repeal of the Roe vs. Wade abortion ruling. No one on Capitol Hill had asked for the Reagan-era files.