Willamette Week - Abotion: Beyond Roe vs. Wade


Our cover story on avortion is in three parts with an additional sidebar: The Past: abortions 1954, 1968 The Present: chipping at choice The Future: a new kind of choice Sidebar: abortion stats

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			From coat hangers to cloning For the women who've grown up since Roe vs. Wade, Audrey Jarach's story about her illegal abortion may seem like some sort of medieval pulp fiction. But for their mother's generation, it was a common true-life tale of shame, pain and, all too often, death. This week, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the historic court ruling that made abortions legal in this country, the Oregon chapter of NARAL is releasing a booklet, "Real Voices," with the stories of Jarach and 15 other Oregon women who speak candidly about their abortion ordeals. "For those of you who are too young to remember when a woman's choice was no choice, I urge you to read this booklet," U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Furse writes in the booklet's introduction. "These stories are real, they are truth and they should haunt you." In this week's paper, we take a hard look at where the nation and state stand 25 years after Roe vs. Wade. We start by reviewing the past, excerpting two stories from NARAL's booklet. Furse, who last year went public with her own story of a pre-Roe abortion, says the women's recollections are more than just historic propaganda. They offer warnings for the present. "I chose to share my abortion story a year ago because of what I witness daily in Congress," she says. "This is a Congress bent on taking away a woman's right to a safe, healthy and legal abortion." Furse isn't crying wolf. In the second section of our package of stories, WW reporter Bob Young shows that although abortion foes have largely abandoned efforts to overturn Roe vs. Wade, they're continuing their battle (with the Supreme Court's blessing) by chipping away at abortion rights. Among other things, Lon Mabon and the Oregon Citizens Alliance are back with a ballot initiative that would ban abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy. Our package concludes with a look at how technological advances are confusing what once was a fairly straightforward question about a woman's right to end an unwanted pregnancy. Prospective parents already have the ability to get a limited genetic preview of their unborn child and may choose to abort a fetus that tests positive for Down's syndrome. Should testing be expanded to give them the option of aborting a fetus that shows the likelihood of obesity, depression or low IQ? In a few years, parents may be cloning their offspring. Should they be allowed to abort these progeny if a few chromosomes don't exactly match? As Dr. Jeff Jensen, a professor at Oregon Health Sciences University, says, "We're running the risk of not being able to keep up with the ethical dilemmas that exist." Considering the changes in technology and in politics, it's unlikely we'll ever return to the days of crude, clandestine table-top operations in Oregon. Nevertheless, the issue of abortion is far from settled, and in many ways it's even more complicated than it was 25 years ago.


				Sidebar: Abortion Stats IN OREGON The number of abortions in Oregon in 1996 (13,767) declined slightly from 1995 (14,079), but was more than in 1994 (13,392). In 1989, Oregon had 58 abortion providers in 16 counties; 25 of those providers were in the tri-county area. In 1997, there were 39 providers in nine counties, 16 in the tri-county area. 1997 statistics are not yet finalized, but the rate of abortions through October indicates that 1997's year-end total would be 14,980--an increase of 1,213, or 9 percent. SOURCE: OREGON HEALTH DIVISION NATIONALLY Incidence of Abortions Between 1987 and 1994, the abortion rate in the United States declined from 27 to 24 abortions per 1,000 women annually. 30 percent of American women of reproductive age (15-44) have had one or more abortions. In 1994, an estimated 1.4 million abortions took place in America, down from 1.5 million in 1992. 55 percent of U.S. women obtaining abortions are younger than 25. Women ages 20-24 obtain 33 percent of all abortions; teen-agers obtain 22 percent. Black women are nearly three times as likely as white women to have an abortion, and Latino women are roughly twice as likely. 89 percent of abortions occur in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The number of abortion providers declined by 8 percent between 1988 and 1992, from 2,582 to 2,380. Although 9 in 10 managed-care plans routinely cover abortion or provide limited coverage, only 4 in 10 cover all major contraceptive methods. SOURCES: ALAN GUTTMACHER INSTITUTE IN NEW YORK AND WASHINGTON, D.C., AND THE POPULATION COUNCIL IN NEW YORK; BOTH ARE NONPROFIT CORPORATIONS FOR REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RESEARCH AND PUBLIC EDUCATION. Law and Policy In the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision, the Supreme Court ruled that women, in consultation with a physician, have a constitutionally protected right to have an abortion in the early stages of pregnancy. In 1992, the court weakened the right to abortion in Planned Parenthood vs. Casey. It gave states the right to enact restrictions as long as they don't create an "undue burden" for women seeking an abortion. The most common restrictions in effect are parental involvement requirements, mandatory counseling and waiting periods, and limits on public funding.

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