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Access to Safe, Legal Abortion at Risk in the U.S.
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Young women born after 1973 have never lived in a United
States where abortion is illegal. That may change in the next
four years if we do not take action now. |
On January 22, 1973, the landmark U.S. Supreme
Court decision Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in the
United States. With Roe in place, 1.4 million women
choose to legally access safe abortions each year. However,
abortion access is under greater
threat today than at any time since 1973.
President-elect George W. Bush is anti-choice and may appoint
2-3 Supreme Court Justices during his term. In recent years,
the Supreme Court has upheld
Roe v. Wade by a razor-thin margin
of 5 to 4. An anti-choice Supreme Court could overturn
Roe v. Wade.
Currently, the majority of both houses of Congress are
anti-choice.
The Bush Cabinet
President-elect George W. Bush has already nominated several
anti-choice ideologues to his Cabinet. If confirmed by the
Senate, each will have significant power over decisions regarding
women's reproductive choice: |
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Bush's choice for U.S. Attorney General, defeated
Missouri Senator and former State Attorney General John
Ashcroft, is anti-choice and anti-women's rights. Ashcroft
staunchly opposed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), filing
suit against the National Organization for Women (NOW) in
1979. As head of the Justice Department, Ashcroft would be
charged with enforcing the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances
Act, which protects reproductive health clinic workers, doctors,
and patients from anti-abortion violence.
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Health and Human Service Secretary designate
Tommy Thompson has a strong anti-woman record that includes
an anti-choice position and a welfare reform program than penalizes
poor women with children and single women. Thompson is listed
as a member of the Council for National Policy, a secret right-wing
society whose membership roster includes Gary Bauer, James Dobson,
Elaine Donnelly, Jerry Falwell, Trent Lott, Edwin Meese, Ralph
Reed, and Pat Robertson. |
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Gale Norton, Bush's choice for Secretary
of the Interior, was a supporter of the anti-gay Amendment
2 in Colorado, and was on the staff of the Mountain States Legal
Foundation (MSLF), founded by Joseph Coors. MSLF has taken on
cases that are anti-affirmative action and anti-environmental
protection. |
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