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CNN Live At Daybreak
Tomorrow 30th Anniversary of Roe Vs. Wade
Aired January 21, 2003 - 05:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Tomorrow is the 30th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. But all that could change with a slight shift in the makeup of today's court.
CNN's Bob Franken looks at the past, present and future of the abortion issue.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Over the centuries, this has been nothing less than a life and death debate. Reproductive rights advocates argued then and now that a woman has a right to a safe abortion, not an illegal back alley procedure that could take her life. Abortion opponents say a right-to-life belongs to a child waiting to be born.
The battle fiercely intensified on January 22, 1973, when the United States Supreme Court ruled seven to two that women had the constitutional right to choose an abortion. Justice Harry Blackmun wrote for the court majority that it's based on an implied right to privacy, a right to make choices about one's own body broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.
The reasoning outrages opponents and puzzles even many supporters.
EDWARD LAZARUS, SUPREME COURT ANALYST: The better argument for the result reached in "Roe vote. (ph) Wade" is that it's necessary to the equality of women, rather than grounding it in a right to privacy.
FRANKEN: Even with the decades of sometimes violent, even deadly protest, abortions are widely available in the United States, with limitations imposed by an increasingly conservative court, granting states in 1989, for instance, the authority to prohibit the use of public facilities and public employees for abortions.
In 1992, another ruling, states have the right to regulate the procedures with waiting periods and parental consent requirements, for instance, as long as they don't place a "undue burden." Both of those were five to four decisions and opponents dream of the day when new justices might overturn "Roe vote. (ph) Wade."
The polls, though, consistently show a majority favoring the limited right to a legal abortion. In the meantime, opponents will try and chip away at it, forcing political debate on issues like late term pregnancies. And the battlefield extends far beyond just abortion.
(on camera): Technology has sent the issue spiraling into many different directions -- fetal research, stem cells, cloning. As significant as it was, "Roe vote. (ph) Wade" was only a beginning of the battle.
Bob Franken, CNN, the Supreme Court.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 21, 2003 - 05:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Tomorrow is the 30th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. But all that could change with a slight shift in the makeup of today's court.
CNN's Bob Franken looks at the past, present and future of the abortion issue.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Over the centuries, this has been nothing less than a life and death debate. Reproductive rights advocates argued then and now that a woman has a right to a safe abortion, not an illegal back alley procedure that could take her life. Abortion opponents say a right-to-life belongs to a child waiting to be born.
The battle fiercely intensified on January 22, 1973, when the United States Supreme Court ruled seven to two that women had the constitutional right to choose an abortion. Justice Harry Blackmun wrote for the court majority that it's based on an implied right to privacy, a right to make choices about one's own body broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.
The reasoning outrages opponents and puzzles even many supporters.
EDWARD LAZARUS, SUPREME COURT ANALYST: The better argument for the result reached in "Roe vote. (ph) Wade" is that it's necessary to the equality of women, rather than grounding it in a right to privacy.
FRANKEN: Even with the decades of sometimes violent, even deadly protest, abortions are widely available in the United States, with limitations imposed by an increasingly conservative court, granting states in 1989, for instance, the authority to prohibit the use of public facilities and public employees for abortions.
In 1992, another ruling, states have the right to regulate the procedures with waiting periods and parental consent requirements, for instance, as long as they don't place a "undue burden." Both of those were five to four decisions and opponents dream of the day when new justices might overturn "Roe vote. (ph) Wade."
The polls, though, consistently show a majority favoring the limited right to a legal abortion. In the meantime, opponents will try and chip away at it, forcing political debate on issues like late term pregnancies. And the battlefield extends far beyond just abortion.
(on camera): Technology has sent the issue spiraling into many different directions -- fetal research, stem cells, cloning. As significant as it was, "Roe vote. (ph) Wade" was only a beginning of the battle.
Bob Franken, CNN, the Supreme Court.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
