On 30th Anniversary Of Roe v. Wade, NYCLU Says Reproductive Freedom Is In Grave Danger

“We’re facing an unprecedented attack on the whole range of reproductive rights that women and girls had thought we could take for granted,” said Rebekah Diller, director of the New York Civil Liberties Union’s Reproductive Rights Project. “With anti-choice forces in control of the White House and Congress, the chill wind that blows from Washington will reach even pro-choice bastions like New York.”

The danger to reproductive freedom goes far beyond the right to abortion, said Diller. The Bush Administration has launched a full-scale campaign against condoms, birth control and STD prevention. Government websites have been censored to stay on message. The only federally funded sex education tells the millions of sexually active teens to “just say no” and bans any discussion of contraception or STD prevention.

Anti-choice opponents are poised to push through Congress a ban on safe abortion procedures, to restrict still further teenagers’ access to abortion, to elevate fetal rights and to limit states’ ability to protect reproductive choice, according to Diller. “These measures would interfere with New York’s pro-choice policies and place women’s health and lives at risk,” Diller said.

In the face of these attacks, the NYCLU and its NYCLU’s 25,000 members are prepared to protect reproductive rights. “We are committed to making sure that in 30 more years, we will have something to celebrate on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade,” said Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.