NRL News
Page 16
January 2008
Volume 35
Issue 1

A “Q &A” about Roe v. Wade and Abortion
By Joseph Landrum

          As the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade approaches, pro-life organizations have offered excellent “Roe IQ Tests” online. As the administrative assistant for public information in the NRL Educational Trust Fund, I have sent out many factsheets to students and referred inquirers to the wealth of information on our web page in response to their queries.

          Each day I am reminded of just how little so many people know about abortion and the law 35 years after the Supreme Court gave us Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton. The following is intended to “get you up to speed” on the basics of Roe v. Wade and abortion law.

1) What are the time limits on when during pregnancy an abortion is allowed under Roe and Doe?
Abortion is legal for any reason at least into the sixth month, and even after that for “health reasons.” According to Justice Blackmun, the “factors” relevant to “health” include “physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age.”

2) What limitations does Roe allow on why a woman may have an abortion?
There are no limitations.

3) In his Roe and Doe decisions, Justice Blackmun employed a “trimester” scheme. Are there distinct milestones on the development of the baby that correspond with this framework?
No. There are milestones of development throughout pregnancy, and these are no more likely to closely correspond to “trimesters” than other times. While the Supreme Court opined in 1973 that viability was largely confined to the third trimester, today many children can survive and thrive if born prematurely in the mid-second trimester. In Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), the Court abandoned what even pro-abortionists conceded by then was Roe’s indefensible trimester scheme but maintained Roe’s “core holdings.”

4) At what age does Roe require minor girls to have parental notification before an abortion?
Parental notification is not required by Roe, but states may pass parental involvement laws if they choose. Currently, there are 28 such laws in effect. Six more states have passed such laws but these are not in effect due to court decisions.

5) Are sex-selection abortions—abortions performed because of the baby’s gender—performed in the U.S., or only in countries where there are strong cultural and economic incentives to favor male children?
Although there are no statistics (women don’t have to tell anyone why they are obtaining an abortion—see question 2), there is evidence that this may be a factor even in the U.S., and many geneticists do not object to this.

6) What percentage of abortions are performed because of rape or incest?
While women do not have to provide a reason for seeking abortions, survey results from the Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), the research arm of Planned Parenthood, indicate that rape is the primary reason for less than ½% of women seeking abortions.

7) Which of our nation’s founding documents contains the phrase “right to an abortion”?
If you find it, let us know. But, seriously, there are none.

8) True or False: If Roe were overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, abortion would immediately become illegal in the United States.
False. The overturn of Roe would allow, but not require, state and federal legislators to enact protective legislation. As the “Second Look Project” put it so eloquently, “Not until Roe v. Wade is reversed will the people be able to govern themselves again on the important public policy issue of abortion.”

9) Do most Americans approve of the reasons given for most abortions?
No! Polls show majority opposition to the reasons for abortion most often cited by women. It would be fair to say that a majority of Americans oppose the reasons cited for at least 93% of the nearly 1.3 million abortions performed annually in the U.S.

10) Have there really been 50 million legal abortions in the U.S?
Sadly, yes. Based on the most recent numbers we have from the most authoritative source, AGI, NRLC projects there were just under 50 million as of December 31, 2007. The number will top 50 million by the end of January 2008.

11) Do parental involvement laws and bans on the use of taxpayer dollars really make a difference? After all, abortions can still occur even with these laws in place.
Yes! The best known example is the Hyde Amendment that prohibits federal funding of almost all abortions. By conservative estimate, well over one million Americans are alive today because of the Hyde Amendment—more likely, two million. The same applies in states. The number of babies lost to abortion comes down when legislators pass such laws and when they are upheld by the courts.

12) How many of the nearly 1.3 million abortions each year are repeat abortions, that is, how many women seeking abortion have already had a least one previous abortion?
The latest numbers we have indicate that just under half—48%—of all abortions in the U.S. were obtained by women who had obtained at least one previous abortion.

13) Is legal abortion really safe for the mother? Pro-lifers talk about the guilt and regret women sometimes feel, but is there any real evidence of the dangers of abortion?
There is a great deal of evidence that abortion poses both physical and psychological risks to the mother. Physical complications include increased risk of future ectopic pregnancy, breast cancer, and premature birth. Psychological dangers include increased risk of self-destructive behaviors such as smoking, drinking, and drug abuse; relationship difficulties; and guilt, regret, and even suicidal ideation.

          An excellent factsheet on these and other issues can be found on our web page at www.nrlc.org/Factsheets/index.html.