Skip to content
Center for Reproductive Rights
Center for Reproductive Rights

Primary Menu

  • About
    • Overview
    • Center Leadership & Staff
    • Pro Bono Program
    • Creative Council
    • Annual Reports
    • Contact Us
    • Careers
    • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
  • Work
    • Overview
    • Litigation
    • Legal Policy and Advocacy
    • Resources & Research
    • Recent Case Highlights
    • Landmark Cases
    • World’s Abortion Laws Map
    • After Roe Fell: Abortion Laws by State
  • Issues
    • Overview
    • Abortion
    • Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
    • Assisted Reproduction
    • Contraception
    • Humanitarian Settings
    • Maternal Health
    • COVID-19
  • Regions
    • Overview
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Europe
    • Latin America and the Caribbean
    • United States
    • Global Advocacy
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Center in the Spotlight
    • Events
    • Press Releases
    • Press Room
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Resources & Research
    • World Abortion Laws Map
    • After Roe Fell: Abortion Laws by State
  • Act
    • Overview
    • Give
    • Act
    • Learn
  • Donate
    • Make a Gift Now
    • Be a Champion
    • Join the Advocates Council
    • Become a Major Donor
    • Give Through Your Donor-Advised Fund
    • Make a Gift In Honor
    • Attend an Event
    • Leave a Legacy
    • More Ways to Give
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
Donate
icon-hamburger icon-magnifying-glass Donate
icon-magnifying-glass-teal

38 Years of Roe v. Wade

Center for Reproductive Rights - Center for Reproductive Rights - search logo
search Close Close icon
Center for Reproductive Rights -
Menu Close Menu Close icon
Donate

Primary Menu

  • About
    • Overview
    • Center Leadership & Staff
    • Pro Bono Program
    • Creative Council
    • Annual Reports
    • Contact Us
    • Careers
    • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
  • Work
    • Overview
    • Litigation
    • Legal Policy and Advocacy
    • Resources & Research
    • Recent Case Highlights
    • Landmark Cases
    • World’s Abortion Laws Map
    • After Roe Fell: Abortion Laws by State
  • Issues
    • Overview
    • Abortion
    • Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
    • Assisted Reproduction
    • Contraception
    • Humanitarian Settings
    • Maternal Health
    • COVID-19
  • Regions
    • Overview
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Europe
    • Latin America and the Caribbean
    • United States
    • Global Advocacy
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Center in the Spotlight
    • Events
    • Press Releases
    • Press Room
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Resources & Research
    • World Abortion Laws Map
    • After Roe Fell: Abortion Laws by State
  • Act
    • Overview
    • Give
    • Act
    • Learn
  • Donate
    • Make a Gift Now
    • Be a Champion
    • Join the Advocates Council
    • Become a Major Donor
    • Give Through Your Donor-Advised Fund
    • Make a Gift In Honor
    • Attend an Event
    • Leave a Legacy
    • More Ways to Give
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn

Related Content

Type:

News, Story

Follow the Center

Donate Now

Join Now

01.10.2011

News

38 Years of Roe v. Wade

Justin Goldberg

Share this Story

  • facebook
  • Twitter
  • linkedin
  • Email id

On January 22, 1973, the United States Supreme Court struck down Texas’s criminal abortion laws, finding that the right to decide whether to have a child is a fundamental right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The 7-2 decision in Roe v. Wade would have an immediate and profound effect on the lives of American women. To celebrate and honor the anniversary of the historic Roe decision, the Center reached out to its board members, staff, abortion providers, journalists, and activists in the reproductive justice world to find out why Roe is important to them.



Take a look at what they had to say and then tell us why Roe is important to YOU!


















Facebook Facebook: Tell us why Roe is important to you and find out what others are saying on the Center’s Facebook page >,
Twitter Twitter: Follow the Center’s feed on Twitter and add your Tweets about why Roe is important. Don’t forget to include #Roe or #Prochoice to your Tweets!
Twibbon Twibbon: Show your support for 38 Years of Roe by adding the Center’s Twibbon to your Twitter profile:  twibbon.com/join/38-Years-of-Roe-v-Wade-2


 











Lori Adelman



Lori Adelman



Program Associate, International Women’s Health Coalition Feministing.com Contributor



“Roe is important to me: Because denying women access to abortion services is unhealthy and unsafe, Because nearly 70,000 women still die unnecessarily from the complications of unsafe abortions around the world, most from countries with restrictive abortion policies, Because denying necessary healthcare to anyone, for any reason, is a travesty of justice and a failure of society, and abortion care is no exception, Because anti-abortion rhetoric is inherently sexist, Because my body is my own, but my ability to exercise my individual bodily autonomy is tied up with the ability of those around me to exercise theirs.”












Michelle Kinsey Bruns



Michelle Kinsey Bruns



Reproductive Justice Activist, Tweets as @ClinicEscort



“Freedom would seem an empty word in a society capable of legally requiring that women become mothers against their wishes: Roe v Wade enshrines this principle in law. Yet more than principle is needed to defend freedom for those women at “the raw edges of human existence.”



I grew up terribly poor, and I know I would be still, had abortion care been unavailable to me when I needed it at 18. I was one of the lucky ones. Roe’s defense of the right to abortion, not access to abortion, leaves opportunity unattainable for some. So our work goes on.”












Dr. LeRoy Carhart



Dr. LeRoy Carhart



Abortion Provider Center for Reproductive Rights Client



“As the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade approaches its 38th anniversary, the reproductive rights protected by the decision remain under direct attack by anti-choice forces that seek to once again make abortion illegal.  With each new federal and state legislative session, multiple bills are introduced to further restrict abortion rights.  Each new assault is one more attempt by these forces to either polarize Americans against all abortions or make all abortions harder and more expensive to obtain.  Each anniversary of Roe should be an opportunity to celebrate a victory for women to control their fertility and thus their destiny, however, each anniversary has become a reminder of how fragile reproductive rights are and that unless we unite to preserve all abortions, we are on the verge of losing the rights to any abortions.  If not for the unwavering persistence of the Center for Reproductive Rights defending abortion, Roe would have already fallen.”












Irin Carmon



Irin Carmon



Reporter, Jezebel.com


“The recognition that women deserve autonomy over our own bodies, the legacy of the battles that were fought to legally ensure that autonomy, a bulwark against daily encroachments on that right nationwide—all of these are reasons that Roe v. Wade is important to me. For my generation and the ones that come after us to reach our full potential, reproductive freedom is crucial.”










Sady Doyle



Sady Doyle


Founder of Tiger Beatdown   

“I am a lady. As such, ANY decision I make, relating to my body, is controversial! For example: Always wanting to give consent to sex! Controversial. Having sex! Controversial. Having a baby or NOT having a baby: SO controversial, JEEZ. It’s amazing they even let me get dressed in the morning without a qualified male consultant. But Roe v. Wade reminds me that there were ladies who refused to put up with this. They said that deciding what to do with your own uterus was just common sense. And it reminds me that, when we work hard enough, people listen.”












Melissa Harris-Perry



Melissa Harris-Perry


Princeton Professor, MSNBC Contributor, Columnist for The Nation  

“Why is Roe v Wade important to me? It means that my friends, my sisters, my nieces, my students, my daughter and I can learn, grow and live knowing that we will have privacy, safety, and options to make the most important decisions in our lives. It means that we can support one another as we walk down our different paths. It means that we can share or shield our choices without shame or danger.”












Pamela Merritt



Pamela Merritt


aka Shark-Fu of AngryBlackBitch.com  

“Roe matters because of all the good that follows when we trust women and when women are educated, healthy and safe from violence and oppression. I often find myself standing on the foundation of Roe in my community, working toward a world where women of color are empowered in our lives and trusted in our decisions…where our work is valued and our labor is appreciated. So, Roe matters to me because it is the starting point of my mission to make people appreciate that the safest place for a black woman’s reproductive health care decisions is in her own hands.”












Nancy Northup



Nancy Northup


President of the Center for Reproductive Rights  

“The decision in Roe made it clear that a woman’s right to make her own decisions about pregnancy is essential to her health and dignity. It was an early victory in the struggle for legal recognition of women’s right to reproductive healthcare, and it gave strength to a global movement that is in full force today. My commitment to reproductive rights—including the right to abortion, contraception and to safe pregnancy—is a commitment to an ideal embedded in our Constitution and championed by Roe. The Roe anniversary is a reminder of why I fight every day to ensure that the next generation is able to thrive in a free society that allows them to choose their own destinies.”












Roberta Schneiderman



Roberta Schneiderman


Planned Parenthood of New York City Chair Emeritus, Civitas Board Member Center for Reproductive Rights Board Member  

“In 1948—25 years before Roe—I went to a large women’s college in Massachusetts. I knew little about sex and nothing about abortion. I had misused the word to mean ‘abhorence.’ In what was surely a fortuitous mismatch the college had paired me freshman year with a sophisticated Swiss New Yorker who was an authority on sex, including abortion. When she was 16, her mother had told her it was wrong to have an unwanted child.



By graduation I had learned that nice girls do have sex: some dropped out to bear children unmarried, others married and graduated pregnant with our class.


On Roe day, January, 1973, it was another European woman who was the first to telephone me with the Supreme Court’s decision. She was weeping. ‘It’s too late for us,’ she sobbed, ‘but never again…never for the others…'”










Hugo Schwyzer



Hugo Schwyzer



Professor of History and Gender Studies at Pasadena City College Blogger at hugoschwyzer.net



“It seems like just yesterday that I was with my students commemorating the 20th anniversary of Roe!



The enduring significance of Roe v. Wade lies not just in that it legalized abortion in states where it wasn’t yet legal, but that it has galvanized generations of activists to defend and expand the court’s holding that reproductive activity is fundamentally private. The most precious tenet of reproductive justice is surely that women ought to be sovereign over their own bodies, and Roe gives a constitutional foundation for that sacred right to privacy and self-ownership.  That’s worth celebrating loudly every January 22.”












Barkley Stuart



Barkley Stuart


Business leader, social responsibility advocate, environmental steward and human rights champion Center for Reproductive Rights Board Member “Roe is important to me because it connects me to my mother and my daughter, my mother because she was active in contraceptive and abortion rights beginning in the 50s until her death in 1985.  My mother taught me that choice means freedom and independence for women.  It connects me to my daughter because I know how fragile Roe is yet how vital it is to the life she is just starting to live.  I want her to live in a world where abortion is safe and available without ever taking it for granted.”










Melissa Upreti



Melissa Upreti


Senior Regional Manager and Legal Adviser for Asia Center for Reproductive Rights  

“I come from Nepal, a country where abortion was illegal until 2002.  Women were routinely thrown into prison for having abortions and many more died in the process. Nepal’s ban on abortion represented to me everything that was wrong about the country’s laws, it was cruel, oppressive, ineffective and degrading.  As an activist, I wanted to fight the ban so I looked to America, it was a time when the whole world looked to America for inspiration and that’s what I found in Roe.  Roe inspired me to think about abortion differently.  It gave me the courage to speak of abortion as a matter of personal choice. It empowered me to question my country’s abortion ban and to advocate for a legal regime that recognizes a woman’s choice and dignity instead of denying these things in the name of tradition.”












Sophia Yen MD MPH



Sophia Yen MD MPH


Woman, Mother, Wife Center for Reproductive Rights Board Member  

“Reproductive rights are human rights. Women and men have sex. However, only women bear the consequences. If contraception fails, a woman should be able to decide what happens to the ball of cells growing inside her uterus. As my ob/gyn professor told me, ‘Nothing will come between a woman and a wanted or unwanted pregnancy.’ This means that if a woman wants to get pregnant, she will, and if she wants to terminate a pregnancy, she will. If you make abortions illegal, women will die (from illegal, unsafe and/or self-induced abortions). I am pro-choice because I am pro-life. I don’t want to see women die.”



Related Posts

Azar v. Garza Amicus Brief

Abortion,United States,In the Courts

Complaint: Falls Church Healthcare Center et al. v. Norman Oliver et al.

Abortion,United States,In the Courts

Amicus Brief: State of California et al. v. Alex M. Azar et al.

Other Barriers, Contraception,United States,In the Courts

Sign up for email updates.

The most up-to-date news on reproductive rights, delivered straight to you.

Footer Menu

  • Careers
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us

Center for Reproductive Rights
© (1992-2023)

Use of this site signifies agreement with our disclaimer and privacy policy.

Center for Reproductive Rights
This site uses necessary, analytics and social media cookies to improve your experience and deliver targeted advertising. Click "Options" or click here to learn more and customize your cookie settings, otherwise please click "Accept" to proceed.
OPTIONSACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
CookieDurationDescription
_ga2 yearsThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors.
_gat_UA-6619340-11 minuteNo description
_gid1 dayThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the wbsite is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages viisted in an anonymous form.
_parsely_session30 minutesThis cookie is used to track the behavior of a user within the current session.
HotJar: _hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress30 minutesNo description
HotJar: _hjFirstSeen30 minutesNo description
HotJar: _hjid1 yearThis cookie is set by Hotjar. This cookie is set when the customer first lands on a page with the Hotjar script. It is used to persist the random user ID, unique to that site on the browser. This ensures that behavior in subsequent visits to the same site will be attributed to the same user ID.
HotJar: _hjIncludedInPageviewSample2 minutesNo description
HotJar: _hjIncludedInSessionSample2 minutesNo description
HotJar: _hjTLDTestsessionNo description
SSCVER1 year 24 daysThe domain of this cookie is owned by Nielsen. The cookie is used for online advertising by creating user profile based on their preferences.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
CookieDurationDescription
_fbp3 monthsThis cookie is set by Facebook to deliver advertisement when they are on Facebook or a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising after visiting this website.
fr3 monthsThe cookie is set by Facebook to show relevant advertisments to the users and measure and improve the advertisements. The cookie also tracks the behavior of the user across the web on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin.
IDE1 year 24 daysUsed by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile.
IMRID1 year 24 daysThe domain of this cookie is owned by Nielsen. The cookie is used for storing the start and end of the user session for nielsen statistics. It helps in consumer profiling for online advertising.
personalization_id2 yearsThis cookie is set by twitter.com. It is used integrate the sharing features of this social media. It also stores information about how the user uses the website for tracking and targeting.
TDID1 yearThe cookie is set by CloudFare service to store a unique ID to identify a returning users device which then is used for targeted advertising.
test_cookie15 minutesThis cookie is set by doubleclick.net. The purpose of the cookie is to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
CookieDurationDescription
adEdition1 dayNo description
akaas_MSNBC10 daysNo description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional1 yearThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others1 yearNo description
geoEdition1 dayNo description
next-i18next1 yearNo description
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo
Scroll Up