Press Release

Q&A with Sarah Weddington
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JANUARY 13, 2003

Media contact:
Peggy Hubble, Christian-Hubble Media & Communications
512-472-9599 or phubble@christianhubble.com

January 22, 2003 Marks 30th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade
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30th Anniversary Comes on Eve of
Strongest Threat Ever to Pro-Choice and Abortion Rights
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Landmark U.S. Supreme Court Case Won
by Then-27-Year-Old Texan Sarah Weddington

January 13, 2003—Austin, TX: January 22, 2003 will mark the 30th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, guaranteeing women the legal choice to continue or terminate a pregnancy.

This pivotal case was argued and won by Sarah Weddington, who in 1973 was 27 years old and a recent graduate of The University of Texas School of Law. The case was of enormous national importance and garnered commensurate attention from all quarters. It led Weddington to write her first book, A Question of Choice, documenting the landmark case, recalling the time before Roe v. Wade, and detailing the ensuing developments in the abortion rights movement. Dr. Weddington has received numerous awards for her work in the case, including Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s highest honor, the Margaret Sanger award.

“I am very proud to have been part of this important decision,” Weddington said. “Decisions about reproduction should be made by the woman, not by the government. Roe was a milestone for women and self-determination. It stands for ‘choice’—whether a woman chooses to carry a pregnancy to term and keep the child, to give up a child for adoption, or to terminate her pregnancy.”

“Unfortunately, I am more concerned today about the future of Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose than ever before, given the recent elections bringing so many anti-choice politicians into power, especially in the U.S. Congress,” she said. “It would be nothing short of a national tragedy if the current Presidential Administration, members of the U.S. Congress, and/or potential U.S. Supreme Court appointees were to take this basic right away from women in America. And, frankly, think of what it would signal around the world, as so many countries look to the U.S. as a role model on important social issues such as these.”

“I would like to remind our conservative leaders what Barry Goldwater, Sr. once said to me.

The true conservative position is that
abortion should not be the government’s decision.”

Three decades after Roe v. Wade, a woman’s right to choose is again—or still—an issue of unparalleled controversy. Safe and legal abortions, access to contraception, and in some cases even basic information about birth control or sex education in the future may no longer be among our “inalienable rights.”

“If this decision is overturned, what will happen is what happened thirty years ago: women of means will travel to states or countries where they can have access to safe and legal abortions, while poor women will face back-alley or self-performed abortions. Doctors in illegal state who try to help women will be charged as criminals for performing abortions.”

“Perhaps the story headline in the January, 2003, issue of Glamour magazine says it best,” said Weddington:

Thirty years ago this month, Roe v. Wade ended a dark era for women.
No more abortion by hanger or knitting needle, by sham doctors in dusty back rooms.
But are your rights still safe? Veteran abortion providers say no.

“Today’s 20- and 30-year-olds have no way of knowing what it was like for women before Roe v. Wade,” said Weddington. “It’s easy for them to take it for granted. The choice has always been there for them, and they assume it always will be. My greatest hope is that the current generation of young women and men will become active in supporting this basic right, as well as so many other issues that still confront women today.”

Media Note:
For further information on Roe v. Wade, the 30th anniversary, additional comments and a lengthy Q & A by Dr. Weddington, or related photos, please go to www.theweddingtoncenter.com.