Maryland pro-choice activists campaign for referendum
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and RICHARD HILL BALTIMORE—Pro-choice activists here are actively working to pass a referendum to guarantee abortion rights in Maryland. The law, which will be voted on in November, would replace old laws that pro hibit abortion in all but a handful of circumstances.
Under the old law (which has not been enforced since 1973 due to the Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision) all abortions must be certified by a hospital review board, and are only permitted if the mother's life or health is in grave danger, if the pregnancy is the result of a reported rape, or if there is severe and permanent danger to the fetus.
The Supreme Court's Webster decision in 1989 opened the door for states to pass laws chipping away at reproductive rights. This decision, posing the threat that Roe v. Wade would be overturned in the near future, caused pro-choice groups to mount a campaign to have a law passed that would maintain the right to choose in Maryland.
Molly Yard, then national president of the national Organization for Women (NOW), spoke at a rally of over 1000 people in Annapolis, Maryland's state capital. She called for passage of a clean bill with no restrictions on any woman's right to abortion. Yard was joined by a high school woman representing Maryland Students for Choice and by other speakers.
Two bills circulated in the Maryland state senate last year. One bill, sb. 145, reflecting the sentiments of pro-choice activists, would have codified Roe v. Wade in Maryland with no additional restrictions. PRO CHOICE VOTE CHOICE AND A VOTE CHOICE ACLU
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KEEP HAORTION