A Question of Choice by Sarah Weddington

Author:Sarah Weddington
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Feminist Press at CUNY
Published: 2014-03-17T16:00:00+00:00

8. Storm Clouds Gathering

Before the Roe victory, momentum and dedication rode with those who thought abortion should be legal. It was as if we were on the high end of a seesaw. We believed that basic changes in the roles and status of women were possible, and we saw them happen first through Roe and then, as we expanded our efforts, through the passage of positive legal legislation affecting women. We said, “Let’s get Texas to ratify the national Equal Rights Amendment” and accomplished that during a special session of the Texas legislature during the summer of 1972. “Let’s put an ERA into our Texas Constitution,” and that was accomplished by public vote in November 1972. “Let’s pass a state law so pregnant teachers can return to work instead of being fired,” and we did that: later federal law was changed to require that leave during pregnancy be afforded to women working for larger employers. “Let’s be sure women have equal credit rights,” and we passed the Texas Equal Credit Act. After the Supreme Court’s decision, however, the record of successes around reproductive rights gradually dissipated; those who had been active dispersed and chose a variety of other matters to work on.

The day Roe was decided, in fact, the positioning of the forces for and against choice began to reverse. Anti-abortionists experienced a new surge of energy—energy which has not flagged to this day. The seesaw began to move, with the side opposed to abortion rising in commitment, funding, legislative victories, and ability to limit access to abortion procedures. I felt—and still feel—a chill when I think of the years since the Court decision.

The movie Arachnophobia reminds me of this period. It begins with a blissful scene of the members of a perfect two-child family joyfully going about their daily activities after moving to a tranquil rural setting, oblivious to the fact that in their nearby barn a spider of great destructive potential is beginning to multiply. As the movie spins its tale, the dangerous spiders, growing in numbers and venom, jeopardize the lives of the family members and others. In the end, however, the nearby town is saved. While we were blissfully celebrating our victory in Roe, the anti-abortion forces began to proliferate and increase in strength, which continued until they were able to undermine the Supreme Court decision in a variety of ways.

The goal of the anti-abortion forces was, of course, to make abortion illegal once again. They labeled January 22, the date of the Court’s decision, “Black Monday,” and they march in Washington on each anniversary. They declared war on the availability of abortion, and brainstormed and developed ways to deaden the impact of Roe and/or defeat the decision itself. They began a grassroots campaign to involve their previously complacent supporters. Their political strategies ran the gamut of actions, whatever they could devise at the local, state, and national level, and would eventually help in electing three presidents who shared their cause. Even in the 2012

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