Women's right to choose is restricted in 45 states

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control our reproductive lives. If we cannot make these important personal decisions free from governmental interference we can never control our own lives!' The following is a speech given by Joni Jacobs at a July 3, 1991, rally in San Francisco to protest the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Webster decision. Jacobs was speaking on behalf of the Reproductive Rights Task Force of the San Francisco chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW).

In 1973, women in the United States won the right to control their own bodies when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the state of Texas's anti-abortion laws. The historic Roe v. Wade decision guaranteed women in all 50 states the right of privacy Joni Jacobs speaking at July 3 rally.

in making crucial, personal decisions regarding their reproductive lives.

Since that day, those who want to oppress women in the name of saving the lives of unborn fetuses have consistently chipped away at our right to choose. They have used the chisel of parental consent laws, which deny teen-aged women the right to abortion. They have used the chisel handed them by the 1976 Hyde amendment, which denies low-income women the right to choose by prohibiting public funding for Webster decision But two years ago today, on July 3, 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court turned these antichoice chisels into sledgehammers with its Webster v. Reproductive Health Services decision. No longer is the decision to choose abortion left in the hands of women and their doctors. The Supreme Court gave politicians and state governments the right to interfere in women's lives and restrict access to abortion.

Since the Webster decision, 235 restrictive measures have been introduced in state legislatures all across the country. Most of them died in committee before reaching the floor for a vote. Others were voted down. Still others were passed, but vetoed by governors. But this alarming figure clearly shows what the intent of legislators throughout this country is: to restrict abortion as much as possible, or outlaw it altogether.

The National Organization for Women demands that abortion be safe, legal, and accessible to every woman in the United States-regardless of her age, skin color, or economic status. If one woman is denied the right to choose, the rights of all women are threatened. But what is the status of abortion rights in America? Where do women under age 18 have access to abortion? Where do low-income women have access to abortion?

Missouri is the state that gave us the Webster decision, which opened the door for states to restrict women's right to abortion. Under Missouri law, a doctor who suspects a woman is 20 weeks pregnant must perform tests for viability, and no Joni Jacobs is the Socialist Action candidate for Mayor of San Francisco.

6 SOCIALIST ACTION abortions may be performed after viability except to preserve the life of the woman.

No public funds, public facilities or public employees may be involved in performing abortions, except to preserve a woman's life. And minor women must obtain the consent of one parent or undergo a complicated judicial bypass procedure to receive an abortion. In Missouri, women no longer have the right to choose.

In Pennsylvania, a restrictive abortion law was signed on Nov. 17, 1989. This law, which currently is enjoined and on its way to the Supreme Court, requires a married woman to notify her husband of her decision to receive an abortion. Doctors must perform viability tests to determine the gestational age of the fetus before performing any abortion, and no abortion may be performed after 24 weeks except to save a woman's life.

Women cannot receive an abortion until 24 hours after a doctor informs them of specific mandatory topics, including showing pictures of fetal development, and no abortions may be performed for sex selection purposes, in addition to a host of other technical restrictions.

Pennsylvania also prohibits women minors access to abortion without the consent of one parent or without receiving a judicial bypass. No public funds may be used to provide abortions for low-income women except in cases of rape or incest or to preserve the life of the woman. No abortions may be performed in public facilities except in cases of rape, incest, to preserve the woman's life, or if no other facility is available for 20 miles. Under Pennsylvania law, women no longer have the right to choose.

Fines and imprisonment

In the U.S. territory of Guam, restrictive abortion legislation was signed into law on March 19, 1990. This law, which is also enjoined and on its way to the Supreme Court, restricts women's right to abortion in the following ways: Any person providing or assisting in an abortion, except to preserve a woman's health or life, is guilty of a felony. Anyone soliciting a woman to have an abortion is guilty of a misdemeanor. Under Guam law, women no longer have the right to choose.

In Utah, restrictive abortion legislation was signed into law on Jan. 25, 1991. This AUGUST1991 law declares all abortions illegal. The only exceptions are for a woman's life, grave damage to the woman's medical health, grave fetal defects, and rape and incest if reported to a law enforcement agency by the victim herself or someone acting on her behalf and if performed during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. Anyone who performs an illegal abortion is subject to a $5000 fine and/or five years in prison.

Utah's law was amended twice, once because as written it would have provided for women to be sentenced to death for having an illegal abortion, and once because as written it would have penalized anyone Joseph Ryan/Socialist Action •We must have the right to helping a woman to obtain an abortion, including organizations like NOW which try to inform women of their legal rights. These provisions were removed, but under Utah law, women no longer have the right to choose.

And, of course, in Louisiana, the legislature overrode Gov. Buddy Roemer's veto on June 18, 1991, to enact the cruelest antichoice law to date. This law prohibits abortions except to preserve the life of the woman, or in certain extremely limited cases of rape or incest. Victims of rape or incest must report the crime within seven days, and seek medical attention within five days from a doctor other than the one performing the abortion (to ensure that the woman was not pregnant before the sexual assault).

No abortions may be performed after 13 weeks. There are no exceptions for the health of the woman or in cases of profoundly deformed fetuses. Doctors found guilty of performing abortions face a sentence of 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.

This law was designed as a direct challenge to the constitutional right of women to seek safe, legal, accessible abortions. Under this law, a 15-week pregnant woman who discovers that her pregnancy threatens her life must seek an abortion outside the state. Under this law, a woman pregnant with severely deformed fetuses cannot obtain an abortion; rather, she must give birth and watch her baby die. Under Louisiana law, women no longer have the right to choose.

Parental consent laws

Last June, the Supreme Court upheld parental consent and notification laws in its Hodgson v. Minnesota decision. Thirty-five states have passed laws which require teen-age women to either notify or obtain the consent of one or both parents before receiving an abortion. In some states, teenaged women may receive a judicial bypass to avoid telling their parents.

In some states, minors must wait 24 or 48 hours after notifying their parents before receiving abortions. While in 20 states, these laws are enjoined by court order until their constitutionality can be reviewed, 15 states currently enforce these laws.

Under the Hodgson decision, minor women no longer have the right to choose in these states: Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana (where teenager Becky Bell died from this law), Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Among the other states, three have passed parental consent laws. However, until a court decides whether these laws are constitutional, they are not being enforced. This means that depending on how the courts rule, minor women may not have access to abortion in Alaska, California and Washington.

In 1976, Congress passed the Hyde amendment, which prohibited the public funding to provide low-income women with abortions. These cruel laws impact most harshly on women of color, who are more likely to need financial assistance for their healthcare.

Thirty states have followed suit, and in these states low-income women do not have access to abortion. The following states prohibit public funding for abortions except when necessary to preserve the life of the woman: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas.

Among the remaining states, the following prohibit public funding for abortions except when necessary to save the life of the woman, or in limited cases of rape or incest: Idaho, Iowa, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

In New Jersey and Vermont, only through a court order may low-income women receive public funding for abortions.

That leaves only five statesConnecticut, Hawaii, New York, North Carolina and Oregon-which protect the right of women to choose abortion regardless of her age or economic status.

But women in these states-—and all others—face another threat to accessible abortion. That threat comes not from politicians, but from a group of antichoice terrorists known as Operation Rescue, which for the past four years has been blockading family planning clinics throughout the United States, physically preventing women from exercising their constitutional rights.

'Operation Rescue' terrorism Last Saturday, Operation Rescue blockaded a private doctor's office right here in San Francisco. San Francisco's Board of Supervisors passed a resolution two years ago requiring that anyone interfering with women's right to abortion be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

San Francisco's mayor proclaims that he is pro-choice and supports the right of women to seek abortion. A statewide injunction prohibits Operation Rescue from being within 15 feet of any family planning facility in California. And the San Francisco Police Department has established guidelines and trained officers to enforce the injunction and ensure women's right to safely enter family planning clinics.

However, despite all these so-called safeguards, when Operation Rescue blockaded the doctor's office last Saturday, the police did not enforce the injunction and did not arrest any of the law-breaking, antichoice terrorists.

They were allowed to walk away completely free, only to return to the doctor's office two hours later and harass her again. Abortion isn't accessible if women cannot enter facilities to receive them, and every woman in every state is threatened as long as Operation Rescue is allowed to continue its reign of terror and intimidation.

On May 23, 1991, the Supreme Court cast another black pall across the entire (continued next page)