A Question of ChoiceThere is no more politically and emotionally charged Supreme Court decision than Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that recognized the right of privacy and allowed women legal medical abortions. Today, as that decision and the choice it protects are under serious attack, the lawyer who won the case comes forth to tell her story. Sarah Weddington, daughter of a minister, grew up in small West Texas towns and graduated from a Methodist college. Her decision to attend law school was not her first - and certainly not her last - act of determination and fortitude. In the late sixties, few lawyers were women, but this was also a time of burgeoning social change. Weddington takes us back to that era and paints a vivid picture of her challenge to the Texas anti-abortion laws - in the state legislature as well as the courts - and her success at the Supreme Court. Her account of what Americans won in 1973 serves as a dramatic backdrop to the narrative of what has been lost in recent years. Her story of the gathering storm of antagonism to Roe makes fascinating political reading, as it explains the political coalitions that brought Ronald Reagan and George Bush into power, and puts into a new context the recent backlash against women's rights. The coming years will in all likelihood mark the test of Roe v. Wade, and the constitutional right of choice. But the issue will not die; the background will move from the courtroom to the ballot box. A Question of Choice is a rallying cry for all Americans who believe in choice, and provides shrewd political strategies to activate the reader. Ultimately, this book reaffirms faith in the American Constitution, which never allows one group's views to be written instone. |
Contents
BEGINNINGS | 11 |
A YOUNG WOMANS SEARCH FOR CHOICES | 17 |
THE ROOTS OF ROE V WADE | 35 |
Copyright | |
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References to this book
Women on the Defensive: Living Through Conservative Times Sylvia B. Bashevkin No preview available - 1998 |
It Takes a Candidate: Why Women Don't Run for Office Jennifer L. Lawless,Richard Logan Fox Limited preview - 2005 |