Question of Choice

A milestone in the ongoing battle for abortion rights was achieved 20 years ago before the Supreme Court by the then 27-year-old Texas lawyer Weddington who won the Roe v. Wade case legalizing abortion in the U.S. Here she recounts with clarity and fervor the remarkable story of how she, her husband and a few other lawyers, supported by a handful of doctors and pro-choice advocates, researched and prepared briefs invoking the ``right of privacy'' defense as a main argument to challenge the Texas anti-abortion law. However, certain conditions--trimester viability of the fetus, etc.--imposed by states, limited funding and services, along with well-organized, occasionally violent pro-life factions supported by conservative administrations and their court appointees, threaten to overthrow the 1973 decision. The author urgently calls for immediate, major and sustained efforts on the part of pro-choice forces to preserve the freedom of women to control their lives. Photos not seen by PW. BOMC and QPB alternates. (Sept.)