EDELIN SPEAKS IN CLEVELAND
On April 4, Dr. Kenneth Edelin, recently convicted of manslaughter in the famous (or infamous) Boston abortion case, spoke to about 200 people at the WHK Auditorium. As a NOW spokesperson put it, Dr. Edelin's conviction proves that the 1973 Supreme Court abortion decision gives a woman a right to choose an abortion, but not the right to have it.
Dr. Edelin provided some illumination on the reasons for the occurrenceof the trial itself, and for his being chosen as-its victim. He accused the Boston District Attorney of misusing his power to promote his own antiabortion prejudices, by subpoenaing the records of Boston Hospital, and by convening a grand jury to investigate its practices with regard to abortion and fetal research. Dr. Edelin, although he testified before the grand jury, was not aware that he himself was under investigation until April 11, 1974, when the District Attorney informed him by telephone that the grand jury had indicted him.
Dr. Edelin feels he was picked for the dubious honor of being the first physician prosecuted for performing a legal abortion for several reasons: first, only he and one other doctor at Boston Hospital performed abortions, the other 13 OB-Gyns at the hospital refused
to do so; and also, he is black, a powerful factor in a city seething with racial tensions and with a politically ambitious D.A.
The D.A. got himself a great jury -of the 69 members of the jury panel questioned before a final jury was picked, only 4 were black. Two of these were excused by the judge because they had strong feelings about abortion, and the other 2 were peremptorily dismissed by the prosecutor. Also, the original jury panel was picked by a computer which was programmed to select 2 men for every woman at least an improvement over the days when the ratio was 7 to 1, Women were further selected out by being excused if they had a child under 15 and for various other reasons. Dr. Edelin ended up with a jury of 12 plus 4 alternates 13 men and 3 women, all white. According to a member of the jury, this group had many discussions about bussing, and about the doctor himself. They couldn't decide at first if he was Jewish, Italian or Black. Said one
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On Mothers' Day, Sunday May 11, 1975, NOW Eastern Region will be calling a national demonstration "Day of Outrage"against forced motherhood, at the Apostolic Delegation at 3339 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, D.C.
An orientation will begin at 11 a.m. and will be followed by a mobilization and demonstration from 12 noon
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3 p.m. Dr. Kenneth Edelin will speak at the demonstration.
This mobilization is a direct public challange to the Roman Catholic hierarchy's attempt to undermine the right of women to control their own bodies. Tax exempt monies have been illegitimately used in efforts by the Roman Catholic hierarchy to overturn the Supreme Court decision which guarantees women the right to safe and legal abortions.
Buses from Cleveland will be leaving Saturday evening and arriving in Washington, D.C. Sunday morning. The price per person is $14.70. For info and reservation's call Paula Savich at 421-5831. For general info contact [Cleveland NOW at 283-5219.
juror, "If he's white, he'll get a fair trial; if he's Black, it's all over". As Dr. Edelin pointed out, it's hard to imagine how a white jury can get so upset about a black fetus, and yet deny quality education to black children,
Dr. Edelin spoke movingly about.why he performs abortions. He told of the many women he had seen maimed by illegal abortions, mostly poor and black. Before abortion was legalized, there were an estimated 1,200,000 illegal abortions a year, but middle class women could always pay for better care than their poor sisters. In Georgia between 1950 and 1969, a study showed that 88% of the women who died of abortion-related deaths were black While the anti-abortionists consider abortion to be genocidal, "to see a woman die is also genocide". After all, said Edelin, we are not talking about birth, we are talking about abor-
THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE
tion. Just because a woman is pregnant doesn'tmake her a mother. No doctor, including himself enjoys performing abortions, Dr. Edelin stated. "However, when you have seen a woman die from arı illegal abortion, then you will understand why I must perform abortions". Dr. Edelin's appeal will be heard in the fall, and he considers its chances for success "outstanding". He has no doubt that his conviction will be overturned, but the fact remains that if it is not, Dr. Edelin will lose his license to practice medicine in Massachusetts, and probably elsewhere as well. Still, Dr. Edelin believes that some good may have come out of the trial. He feels that the silent majority who favor abortion will no longer be silent, and that many more people are now interested in the issues and problems involved in abortion. Let us hope that he is right.
ABORTION
page 1/What She Wants May, 1975