Pro-Choice Activist Speaks

A top officer of the National Abortion Rights Action League denounced the current trend toward anti-abortion legislation in the United States in a speech before approximately 100 students in Bolyston Hall on Wednesday.

Kate Michelman, the League's executive director, traced the trend back to the Supreme Court's 1989 decision in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, which allowed states to pass legislation restricting abortion.

"The government has no place dictating our personal decisions," Michelman said. "We must put decisions about abortions where they belong--in our hands."

Michelman condemned a recent Utah law forbidding abortions. These laws subject the women and doctors there who take part in abortions to charges of first degree murder, Michelman said.

Michelman also criticized laws that require a minor to obtain parental consent before having an abortion. She argued that such policies can have serious consequences, since many minors are afraid to tell their parents and instead risk injury or death at the hands of illegal abortionists.

The debate over abortion ultimately centers around the issue of who gets to make the final decision, Michelman said. "Protecting our right to privacy means trusting women to make decisions about their own life," she said.

Michelman warned the audience about the dangers of being passive on this issue. "The chance of losing the right to choose is very real," she said.

Michelman called on her listeners to work toward changing the new restrictive laws.

"Anti-choice voters have disproportionate strength in legislation," she said. "We must elect pro-choice politicians."

Currently, the League is working to pass a Freedom of Choice Act which would set a federal standard and secure a woman's right to choose, Michelman said.

In addition, Michelman defined the League's goal as "to enable Americans to make responsible decisions free from ideological infuences."

"We are not pro-abortion. We are trying to protect rights," she said.

Michelman said she supported the practice of adoption advocated by anti-abortion activists, but added that it should not be the only alternative. "Adoption is an option, but it is only an option. We can't force choice or else we have a policy of forced pregnancy."