Groups mark Roe vs. Wade

Some people will spend today celebrating 25 years of a woman's right to abort a child.

Others will lament the 30 million fetuses lost to legal abortions since 1973.

Twenty-five years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Texas district court's decision in favor of Jane Roe, a woman who was denied an abortion under Texas state statutes. The statutes were struck down by the court because they were found to be in violation of an individual's right to privacy, as protected under the Ninth and 14th Amendments.

Today, the 25th anniversary of the court's Roe vs. Wade decision that legalized abortion in the United States, will be commemorated throughout the country.

"Roe vs. Wade has had an incredible impact," said Laura Kaub (junior-English and women's studies). "It was a positive moment for women because it validated a woman's right to govern her body."

- Sue Rogacs, political education director of Center County Citizens Concerned for Human Life.

"Roe vs. Wade is a great thing," Boulanger said. "It's given women access to abortion. It gives them the right to make choices about their bodies."

She said instead of working on a national level, pro-life groups are working through state legislatures to limit abortion rights.

"Now it is a state fight. There are a lot of people out there trying to overturn Roe vs. Wade," Boulanger said. "(Limited abortion rights) could take a long time, but it could happen if people don't start to speak up. The anti-choice groups are a lot more organized now and pro-choice groups aren't."

Boulanger said she urges pro-choice advocates to speak up in order to "keep the doors open."

State College Medical Services, which began offering abortions last September, declined to comment for this story.

While many religions firmly hold pro-life positions, one local church supports a woman's right to choose.

A pro-choice stance falls under the "social responsibilities" aspect of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Centre County, 780 Waupelani Extension, said the Rev. Paul Hull. However, the State College congregation is not commemorating the event, he said.

Robert O'Connor, an associate professor of political science at the University, said the greatest impact of the decision was that it made abortions safer for women.

"Fewer women lost lives in botched abortions," he said.

The decision also made abortions available for poor women who couldn't afford to travel to states where abortions were legal, O'Connor said. Before the decision, middle- and upper-class women already had access to safe abortions, he said, because they could afford better medical care.

But O'Connor said he does not believe the decision increased the number of abortions in this country.

Barbara Burgos DiTullio, president of the Pa. chapter of the National Organization for Women said NOW has organized a candlelight vigil tonight on the steps of the Supreme Court building.

"We have to remember the women who have died," she said, "and the protection that keeps women from going to back alleys."

DiTullio said many of the state's 40 NOW chapters are sponsoring events to mark the anniversary. A teleconference was held in Philadelphia yesterday, which included Justice Harry A. Blackmun, who wrote the Supreme Court decision on Roe vs. Wade, and a number of NOW members, she said.

Pro-life advocates have varying reasons for believing abortion is unacceptable.

Abortion is not essentially an issue of legality, but a moral and spiritual issue, said the Rev. Anthony Petracca, assistant pastor of Our Lady of Victory Church, 820 Westerly Parkway.

"Roe vs. Wade was a major mistake in American jurisprudence because it went against our entire American tradition of respect for human life and liberty, and until that is reversed . . . ultimately all lives in our society are in danger," Petracca said.

Beth Knievel, education director of the Centre County Citizens Concerned for Human Life (CCHL), finds argument not in religion, but in civil liberty.

"It's not just a religious issue, it's a civil right issue," Knievel said. "These unborn babies, an entire class (of people), are being denied their most basic right, which is the right to life. Without the right to life, no other right is really important or possible."

Petracca said about 65 parishioners attended a prayer service Sunday afternoon outside State College Medical Services.

He added that a prayer service will be held in Altoona and a candlelight prayer vigil will be held in front of State College Medical Services, Suite 210 of the Uni-Mart Building, 477 E. Beaver Ave., today at 6:15 p.m. to mark the anniversary. The candlelight service is sponsored by St. John Evangelist Catholic Church in Bellefonte.

According to recent data published by the Centers for Disease Control, abortion rates dropped to 1.2 million in 1994, the lowest level in 20 years. The CDC cited "greater use of contraceptives, less access to abortion facilities and changing social attitudes towards abortion" as reasons for the decline.

Patricia Murray (junior-biology), vice president of Penn State Students for Life, said she would like to see that trend continue. The organization has helped send 30 students to Washington, D.C., today to join in the national March for Life.

"We want to let it be known that we still oppose abortions and hope that some day it won't be legal," she said. "As pro-lifers, we believe that unborn babies are people, and therefore, with abortions legal, more lives are being destroyed than are being saved."

Other local pro-life activists will commemorate the decision by attending a mass in remembrance at the Eisenhower Chapel tonight or at St. John Evangelist Catholic Church, 134 E. Bishop St., in Bellefonte, according to the office of Newman Catholic Association.

According to a People for Life Inc. news release, between 100,000 and 125,000 marchers are expected to converge on the nation's capitol today. They will walk for about 2 1/2 miles, concluding their march in front of the Supreme Court building.

While various church groups commemorate the event with prayer services and several buses of local people join the March for Life today, CCHL has no planned events, said Sue Rogacs, political education director of CCHL.

"Every week, abortions are being done in State College," Rogacs said. The anniversary of Roe pales in comparison. We want to keep the emphasis on what's happening here in State College."