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Roe v. Wade at 39: For NARAL, ‘a challenge and an opportunity’
Roe v. Wade at 39: For NARAL, ‘a challenge and an opportunity’
Posted by Sarah Kliff
Today is the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. Nancy Keenan is the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, the country’s oldest, abortion-rights advocacy organization, founded in 1969. In 2011, the group battled more abortion restrictions than it’s seen before in its four-decade history. States passed 69 laws curtailing abortion access in 2011, more than double the 34 such laws passed in 2010, according to a NARAL report released this week. We spoke Friday afternoon about the status of abortion rights in the United States, what changed last year and what to expect in 2012. A transcript of the discussion, lightly edited for length and clarity, follows.
Sarah Kliff: The Obama administration finalized this afternoon a health reform regulation that requires insurance companies to cover birth control without a co-pay. What does that mean for American women?
Nancy Keenan: It’s an extraordinary decision for women on this country, for us the contrast is clear as it can get in the middle of an election year. This is the kind of policy that helps women connect the personal to the political. When you figure 98 percent of women use birth control at some point, this will expand access to many women. I think it’s the biggest advancement of a generation.
SK: It sounds like 2012 is, so far, starting off a lot better than 2011 was for you and other abortion-rights groups. Tell me a bit about what you’ve seen in the past year of reproductive health legislation.
NK: It is a good start. We’re heading into the Roe anniversary with a near record-level of anti-choice activity. We saw 69 anti-choice laws pass in 2011, which just nearly broke a record of 70 laws in 1999. There’s a trend among the different restrictions we saw and, of course, the bottom line is this is interference with a woman’s privacy.
- more -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/roe-v-wade-at-39-for-naral-a-challenge-and-an-opportunity/2012/01/22/gIQAPVerIQ_blog.html
Posted by Sarah Kliff
Today is the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. Nancy Keenan is the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, the country’s oldest, abortion-rights advocacy organization, founded in 1969. In 2011, the group battled more abortion restrictions than it’s seen before in its four-decade history. States passed 69 laws curtailing abortion access in 2011, more than double the 34 such laws passed in 2010, according to a NARAL report released this week. We spoke Friday afternoon about the status of abortion rights in the United States, what changed last year and what to expect in 2012. A transcript of the discussion, lightly edited for length and clarity, follows.
Sarah Kliff: The Obama administration finalized this afternoon a health reform regulation that requires insurance companies to cover birth control without a co-pay. What does that mean for American women?
Nancy Keenan: It’s an extraordinary decision for women on this country, for us the contrast is clear as it can get in the middle of an election year. This is the kind of policy that helps women connect the personal to the political. When you figure 98 percent of women use birth control at some point, this will expand access to many women. I think it’s the biggest advancement of a generation.
SK: It sounds like 2012 is, so far, starting off a lot better than 2011 was for you and other abortion-rights groups. Tell me a bit about what you’ve seen in the past year of reproductive health legislation.
NK: It is a good start. We’re heading into the Roe anniversary with a near record-level of anti-choice activity. We saw 69 anti-choice laws pass in 2011, which just nearly broke a record of 70 laws in 1999. There’s a trend among the different restrictions we saw and, of course, the bottom line is this is interference with a woman’s privacy.
- more -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/roe-v-wade-at-39-for-naral-a-challenge-and-an-opportunity/2012/01/22/gIQAPVerIQ_blog.html
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