Spring Break
Upheld Abortion Ban Could Invite More Government Action
Kim Romanello
Issue date: 5/27/07 Section: News
The recent 5-to-4 Supreme Court
decision to uphold the ban on partial-
birth abortion is not as much
about the decision, but more about
the wording around the legislation,
which would allow elected officials
to become part of the equation, said
Susan Yolen, vice president of Public
Affairs and Communication for the
Planned Parenthood Organization of
Connecticut.
The ban criminalizes abortions in
the second trimester of pregnancy,
when many doctors believe it is the
safest time for a woman to have the
procedure done, according to the
Planned Parenthood Web site.
"In a nutshell," Yolen said, "what
people who are on the pro-choice
side have concluded, is that it?s not
so much about banning the partialbirth
abortion procedure, but more
about the other language in the legislation
that invites lawmakers to make
decisions about womens? health and
abortions."
Mary Dudas, a political science
professor at UConn, finds it hard to
believe that the federal government
would ever completely overturn Roe
vs. Wade, which gave women the
right to choose whether or not to
have an abortion.
"If the current line of reasoning
keeps continuing, I could see
there being a lot more regulations
being placed on banning certainprocedures," Dudas said. "So
women would, in essence, have
the right to have an abortion,
although they would not be
able to necessarily find someone
to do the procedure."
"I think that everyone has
different reasons for abortion
and it depends on the certain
situation," said Kelly Pielech,
a 6th-semester human development
and family studies
major. "I just don?t think putting
government officials in
the middle of the whole situation
decision to uphold the ban on partial-
birth abortion is not as much
about the decision, but more about
the wording around the legislation,
which would allow elected officials
to become part of the equation, said
Susan Yolen, vice president of Public
Affairs and Communication for the
Planned Parenthood Organization of
Connecticut.
The ban criminalizes abortions in
the second trimester of pregnancy,
when many doctors believe it is the
safest time for a woman to have the
procedure done, according to the
Planned Parenthood Web site.
"In a nutshell," Yolen said, "what
people who are on the pro-choice
side have concluded, is that it?s not
so much about banning the partialbirth
abortion procedure, but more
about the other language in the legislation
that invites lawmakers to make
decisions about womens? health and
abortions."
Mary Dudas, a political science
professor at UConn, finds it hard to
believe that the federal government
would ever completely overturn Roe
vs. Wade, which gave women the
right to choose whether or not to
have an abortion.
"If the current line of reasoning
keeps continuing, I could see
there being a lot more regulations
being placed on banning certainprocedures," Dudas said. "So
women would, in essence, have
the right to have an abortion,
although they would not be
able to necessarily find someone
to do the procedure."
"I think that everyone has
different reasons for abortion
and it depends on the certain
situation," said Kelly Pielech,
a 6th-semester human development
and family studies
major. "I just don?t think putting
government officials in
the middle of the whole situation
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