Women's Abortion Rights in danger?

[Article first published in Technorati by me: http://technorati.com/women/article/womens-abortion-rights-in-danger1/ ]

Will the new conservative majority in congress mess with women’s abortion rights?

This disturbing question is raised by women’s rights leaders like Terry O’Neil, president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), “We now face an anti-choice majority and a new speaker of the House who will threaten to roll back hard fought progress for women” said Terry.

O’Neil further warned that the Republicans would try to cut social security benefits, cut funding for family planning programs, oppose equal marriage initiatives and most importantly try to weaken the Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal. This fear is caused by the attitude of the soon to be speaker of the House, John Boehner, who, according to O’Neil "has made it no secret that he is anti-choice and anti-equal marriage”.

It seems the election results has inflamed the women’s activists to brace for this fight for abortion rights as they consider the new Conservative majority in the House synonymous to the defeat of pro-choice advocates and the victory of anti-choice advocates of abortion.

According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, at least 49 of the 60 Republican newcomers to the House will oppose women’s abortion rights. Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said, “We anticipate that the anti-choice leadership in the House will aggressively attempt to push through measures designed to stop all health insurance policies from covering abortion services, even for those who work in the private sector and pay for premiums out of their own paychecks”. She also added that although the focus is on Washington, the states will be more proactive in this respect. Incredible as it may seem but in 2010 alone there were more than 600 anti-choice state bills.

NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio director Kellie Copeland fears that the Republican majority in Ohio legislature will again try to put forward proposals to ban abortion in Ohio. She reminded that such a proposal was introduced last time Republicans controlled the legislature.

In Oklahoma, the legislature tried to introduce eight new anti-choice laws in 2010.Four of them were vetoed by the governor, Brad Henry. The legislature then overrode three of them. Extreme Bills were also vetoed by some of other state Governors like in Kansas and Florida. But these Governors are going to be replaced by anti-choice Governors and that is the cause of all these apprehensions.

Pro-choice advocates participated in a demonstration in front of the US Supreme Court on 4^th November to keep

 abortion legal. They are afraid that the anti-choice majority in the house will promote laws that will jeopardize women’s equality, dignity and even health.

However, women’s rights activists like O’Neil and Northup are determined to give the anti-choice advocates a good fight with the help of the pro-choice members of the House and the Court.

Hope, whoever be the majority in Legislature, the rights women gained after years of struggle will not be fiddled with and American women will not be forced backwards for political gains.