Upheld Abortion Ban Could Invite More Government Action

The recent 5-to-4 Supreme Court

decision to uphold the ban on partial-

birth abortion is not as much

about the decision, but more about

the wording around the legislation,

which would allow elected officials

to become part of the equation, said

Susan Yolen, vice president of Public

Affairs and Communication for the

Planned Parenthood Organization of

Connecticut.

The ban criminalizes abortions in

the second trimester of pregnancy,

when many doctors believe it is the

safest time for a woman to have the

procedure done, according to the

Planned Parenthood Web site.

"In a nutshell," Yolen said, "what

people who are on the pro-choice

side have concluded, is that it?s not

so much about banning the partialbirth

abortion procedure, but more

about the other language in the legislation

that invites lawmakers to make

decisions about womens? health and

abortions."

Mary Dudas, a political science

professor at UConn, finds it hard to

believe that the federal government

would ever completely overturn Roe

vs. Wade, which gave women the

right to choose whether or not to

have an abortion.

"If the current line of reasoning

keeps continuing, I could see

there being a lot more regulations

being placed on banning certainprocedures," Dudas said. "So

women would, in essence, have

the right to have an abortion,

although they would not be

able to necessarily find someone

to do the procedure."

"I think that everyone has

different reasons for abortion

and it depends on the certain

situation," said Kelly Pielech,

a 6th-semester human development

and family studies

major. "I just don?t think putting

government officials in

the middle of the whole situation

is going to further solve

anything."

Yolen expects the decision

to open flood gates concerning

greater regulations on certain

types of abortions.

"Where there have been

medical debates about this in

the past, it has always come

down to protecting the woman

?s health," Yolen said. "But

now the law says that it is not

up to medical professionals to

choose whether or not it is in

the woman?s best interest - the

law must be upheld.

Some states, especially

those with stricter abortion

laws, figure to further

strengthen those anti-abortion

laws, Yolen said. She added

that it is hard to prevent this,

especially in states that have

already begun to do so.

"I have always supported a

woman?s right to choose, but

it becomes a slippery slope

argument when deciding when

an embryo becomes a real person,"

said Steffen Lizier, a

4th-semester biology major.

"We?ve discussed and debated

this is my philosophy class."

In 1990, Connecticut acted

to incorporate the Roe v. Wade

decision into state law, so

those abortion rights are protected

for the moment, Yolen

said.

"[Passing pro-choice legislation]

was an important

statement by the Connecticut

General Assembly," Yolen

said, "by putting into law that

they care about protecting and

respecting women?s rights in

the state."