Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon Marks the 44th Anniversary of Roe V. Wade: "We Refuse to Let Extreme Politicians Take Us Backwards"

Today marks the 44th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision handed down on January 22, 1973. The case challenged a Texas statute making it a crime to perform an abortion unless a woman's life was at stake, and has come to be known as the case that legalized abortion nationwide in the United States. The anniversary comes as millions of people turned out to march across the country to show their support for health, rights, and full equality of all -- including access to safe and legal abortion. Women, men and young people turned out by the thousands across Oregon yesterday to demonstrate their support for women to have full autonomy of their bodies and their reproductive choices. Americans are sending a clear message to politicians that they do not want further restrictions on abortion access. 

At the time the decision was handed down, abortion was illegal in nearly all states except to save a woman's life or for limited reasons such instances of rape, incest, or fetal anomaly. 
Roe rendered these laws unconstitutional and set a legal precedent that affected more than 30 subsequent Supreme Court cases involving restrictions on access to safe, legal abortion. 

"We refuse to let extreme politicians take us backwards," said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. "The majority of Americans believe abortion should remain safe and legal.  This is one of the reasons people across the country came out to march this weekend: to show support for the health, rights, and full equality of all people, including access to abortion.   

"At Planned Parenthood, we believe in the right of all people to make their own personal medical decisions about pregnancy, without political interference. We are proud to provide expert, high quality care -- including abortion -- and to ensure that patients receive accurate information about all of their pregnancy options.  At Planned Parenthood, we trust women to make their own, fully informed health care decisions." 

Planned Parenthood has seen the devastating consequences for women in states like Texas 
 where politicians have restricted access to abortion. Women have been forced to travel hundreds of miles, cross state lines, and wait weeks to get an abortion, if they can at all. 
These restrictions often have a disproportionate impact on communities of color, who already face systemic barriers in accessing quality health care. 

"In Oregon, we often feel a false sense of security that we are safe in our rights to access abortion care, even with the current administration, but the threat is real and we must stand up for access to abortion here and across our country." said Lisa Gardner, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon. "We refuse to allow politicians to take us backwards. For more than 40 years, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that under Roe v. Wade, the Constitution protects every person's right to make their own personal medical decisions about their bodies." 

At 100 years old, Planned Parenthood remains committed to our mission of building a world 
where all people have access to the health care and education they need and all people have control of their bodies and can determine their own destinies. The work of our compassionate and highly skilled health center staff makes this possible, and ensures that the communities we serve get the best care possible, every day -- no matter what.