Pro-choice Doc Speaks Out For Women’s Rights

As the country nears the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Federal Abortion Ban, pro-choice activist Dr. Kenneth C. Edelin is more determined than ever to make certain that women are not forced to consider more dangerous and life threatening means of terminating pregnancies. End Quote

New York, NY (1888PressRelease) March 01, 2008 - “Will five conservative men determine the status of a woman’s right to choose in the United States of America in the twenty-first century?” asks Dr. Edelin, author of the new book Broken Justice.

Many groups are convinced that with George Bush’s final packing of the Supreme Court with conservative justices Roberts and Alito, the future of women’s control over their own bodies may be in jeopardy. The 5 - 4 decision to uphold the ban was split along radical conservative and progressive lines.

“The decision to enforce the ban undermines a core principle—that a woman’s health must remain the top priority—and instead allows politics and religious beliefs to override legal precedent and medical expertise.”

“The Roe v. Wade decision of 1973 carefully balanced the rights of women to make important reproductive decisions for themselves and the state’s interest in potential life.”

“Thirty-five years later, women are again facing the possibility that their bodies and reproductive rights will fall under the scrutiny and control of the federal government.”

“This decision has protected the health and lives of women—especially poor and minority women—in the United States,” says Dr. Edelin. “Prior to the Roe v. Wade decision, more than one million women each year were forced to resort to illegal abortions, putting their lives at risk.”

With bans on a woman’s right to choose looming in twenty-five states, Dr. Edelin’s cautionary tale provides a harrowing glimpse into the strategy of harassing, prosecuting and intimidating doctors in an effort to restrict a woman’s right to choose.

Dr. Edelin fears that if Roe v. Wade is overturned:
 An amendment to the Constitution will be proposed, outlawing abortion completely.
 State-by-state restrictions on abortion will be enacted so that a woman’s control over her own body will be determined by where she lives.
 Women will resort to extreme measures to terminate unwanted pregnancies.
 Doctors who perform abortions, even in life-saving situations, will be subject to federal prosecution, potential murder charges and imprisonment.
 Terrorist-type members of the “right to life” movement may again resort to killing doctors who perform abortions and bombing clinics where abortions are performed.

Dr. Edelin has consistently drawn parallels between the civil rights and reproductive rights movements.

“There is no difference between the state saying that a woman must carry an unwanted pregnancy to term and the state saying that a human being has to work for no pay in the cotton fields,” says Dr. Edelin. “Both are forms of slavery, which should never again be allowed in America. By taking away a woman’s right to choose, our government nullifies the fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees equal protection for all citizens.”

Dr. Edelin is emeritus professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Boston University and the former chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Boston University School of Medicine. He was also chair of the board at Planned Parenthood Federation of America. He has been a practicing physician for nearly forty years. For more information on Broken Justice, please visit www.brokenjustice.com.

(Broken Justice: A True Story of Race, Sex and Revenge in a Boston Courtroom by Kenneth C. Edelin, M.D.; ISBN: 0-9792060-0-6; $17.95; softcover; 5½ x 8½; 376 pages; PONDVIEW PRESS)

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