Abortion still hotly debated as Roe v. Wade turns 35

During the March for Life in Olympia in 1999, the organizer of the event that annually attracts thousands to the state Capitol to protest abortion declared, "We will continue to be here until all life is considered sacred."

The death of Kathy McEntee after a stroke Jan. 12 stilled that voice. But the cause continues, with abortion opponents gathering for a rally Tuesday on the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.

The Seattle office of the National Abortion Rights Action League will mark the anniversary with an annual fundraiser, followed by lobbying in Olympia on Jan. 28 with hundreds of abortion rights activists.

Tuesday will be just another business day, though "I wish we were celebrating" publicly, said Beverly Whipple, who founded Cedar River Clinics in 1979 in Yakima and later added abortion clinics in Renton and Tacoma.

As Roe v. Wade heads toward middle age, the most recent issues in the battle over hearts, minds and wombs include the role of pharmacists in dispensing Plan B, known as the "morning after pill," and the psychological effect of abortion on women long after the procedure.

Abortion opponents view Plan B as a drug that ends human life and call "post-abortion syndrome" a reality. Abortion-rights supporters say both assertions are nonsense.

Finding common ground is difficult when "both sides tend to talk past one another," said Dan Kennedy, chief executive of Human Life of Washington, an affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee.

"Pro-choice people talk about all the gray areas of people's lives," said Whipple, whose Renton clinic performs more than 3,000 abortions a year. "It's not a black-and-white issue. You've got to leave the decision up to the individual."

But opponents find no ambiguity in what they consider to be the wrongness of harming the unborn.

"Looking at (some) national polls, our contention is that most people are pro-life," Kennedy said. "Most say, 'I'd never choose to have one.' But somehow we're hesitant to say, 'This is a moral issue for our nation.' We say, if it's wrong, it's wrong."

The number of abortions in Washington peaked at 30,613 in 1990 and has generally fallen since, dropping to 24,162 in 2005 before rising slightly the next year, according to state Department of Health statistics.

The state's abortion ratio likewise declined, going from 413 abortions per 1,000 live births in 1987 to 285 abortions in 2006.

In 1980, nearly half of all pregnancies to girls ages 15 to 19 in Washington ended in abortion. By 2006, the abortion rate had fallen to one in five teen pregnancies.

Last week, the Guttmacher Institute, an organization that supports abortion rights and surveys providers nationwide, said that 1.2 million abortions were performed in the United States in 2005, the lowest level recorded since 1974.

"No one cheers louder than Planned Parenthood when the abortion rate goes down," said Brian Cutler, a spokesman for Planned Parenthood of Western Washington, which provides education, pregnancy prevention and abortion services.

Cutler and Whipple said abortions have decreased for a variety of reasons, including better and more available contraceptives, and comprehensive sex education that does not teach only abstinence.

National Right to Life says that women are more likely to reject abortion if they are fully informed about risks related to the procedure, the development of the fetus, alternatives to abortion, parental involvement laws and other factors.

Abortion opponents are targeting Plan B, a drug that can dramatically lower the risk of pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex. Last year, an Olympia drugstore owner and two pharmacists sued the state because new rules would not allow them to withhold Plan B prescriptions for religious reasons.

A federal judge issued an injunction in November that said pharmacists can refuse to sell Plan B because of religious objections if they refer customers to a nearby pharmacy. Last month, three organizations, including Planned Parenthood, appealed the ruling. The lawsuit goes to trial in October.

By preventing a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterine wall, Plan B is "destroying human life," said Kristen Waggoner, a Seattle attorney for the plaintiffs in the Plan B suit. "There's no dispute that it destroys a fertilized egg."

How women are psychologically affected by abortion is another contentious issue.

Valerie Jacobs, program coordinator for a ministry called Project Rachel, said she speaks to about 120 women a year in Western Washington who have experienced painful, delayed responses to their abortions, even decades later.

"What many of them say is that they did not have a lot of information to make this decision with," she said.

"What we know from the counseling field is that there's tunnel vision. It's very difficult for a person in crisis to see all the options."

Some of those women are now part of Silent No More, a campaign to publicly speak about such experiences.

Whipple, the abortion clinic owner, said that Silent No More's message was misguided: "A wrong decision for them does not mean a wrong decision for somebody else."

MORE INFORMATION

Abortion opponents will hold their annual March for Life at noon Tuesday near the state Capitol in Olympia. For more information, visit humanlife.net. Supporters of abortion rights will lobby legislators in Olympia on Jan. 28 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. To learn more, visit wanaral.org.