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ABORTION: THE UNHOLY WAR
The abortion battle has developed into a religious confrontation. The most powerful arguments over abortion are in the religious field-and this is where the opposing views clash head-on.
Opponents of the freedom to choose abortion argue that the fetus is a person from the moment of conception, and therefore abortion is murder. This stance is shared by the Roman Catholic Church and a few Protestant denominations. The hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church, through its abortion lobbying arm, the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment, Inc., works actively to reverse the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion through an amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Proponents of the right to choose abortion point out that there is no unanimity in the answers to such questions as "When does human life begin?" or "Does abortion do violence to the sanctity of life?"
The main argument of those who oppose the action of the so-called "Right to Life" group is based on the guarantees of the First Amendment,-which establishes the separation of the church and state, and the question of whether any church has the right to impose its views on the public.
Over the past several years most religious organizations have maintained that decisions concerning abortion should be made according to individual conscience and responsible medical practice. Almost all major Protestant and Jewish groups, as well as a growing element of the Roman Catholic laity, have voiced statements in support of legalized abortion and view efforts to outlaw abortion as a direct infringement of the First Amendment right to freedom of religion. Many of those groups belong to the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights (RCAR), an organization comprised of 26 Christian, Jewish and other religious groups, which seeks to encourage and coordinate support for safeguarding the legal option of abortion.
Highlights of the Recent Abortion Controversy in Northeast Ohio:
February 18, 1978
Concerned Women's Clinic became one of several abortion providers across the country to be vandalized and firebombed. The attacks against clinics appeared to be well thought out, well planned and systematic, During the June 1976 National Right-ToLife Convention in Boston, an observer taped a workshop on "How to Disrupt an Abortion Clinic." The following year, the burnings began.
March 1, 1978
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After months of controversy, the Akron City Council passed a restrictive abortion ordinance. Drafted by "Right-to-Life" attorneys, the ordinance is a model for similar legislation all over the country.
April 28, 1978
Federal District Court Judge Leroy Contie placed a temporary injunction on the Akron ordinance in a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.
October 7, 1978
Nearly 200 demonstrators protested the organizing workshops held by the Greater Cleveland' Right-toLife Society at CSU. Some of the picketers carried. wire coat hangers as a reminder of the tragic days before abortion became a legal and safe medical procedure.
October 15, 1978
The 95th Congress adjourned. Abortion funding was cut off for poor women, military women, and Peace Corps volunteers. Abortion coverage, was eliminated from the Pregnancy Disability Bill, and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights was forbidden from studying abortion as a civil right.
November 7, 1978
Abortion became an issue in this year's elections as the Ohio Right-to-Life endorsed and actively campaigned for Gov. James Rhodes. The actual impact of these efforts on Rhodes' re-election is disputed. Pro-Choice groups did not organize effectively to counter Rhodes and his anti-choice campaigners.
December 9, 1978
The Cleveland Abortion Rights Action League and Education for Freedom of Choice in Ohio, in response to increasing threats to the right to choose through federal and local legislation, sponsored the first of a series of neighborhood canvasses in an ef-
fort to provide public information on the necessity of preserving the option of safe, legal abortion for women who face unwanted pregnancies. 900 pieces of literature were distributed in a predominantly Catholic neighborhood of Cleveland Heights. Response to a public opinion survey was overwhelmingly in favor of the right to choose.
Historical and Legal Background
Until 1803 abortion was either completely lawful or at least widely tolerated both in the United States and in England. In 1803, in the midst of a general (continued on page 13)
ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORTING THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE
American Association of University Women Citizens Advisory Council on the Status of Women Fiftieth Anniversary Conference of the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Dept. of Labor National Association of Women Deans, Administrators, and Counselors National Organization for Women Sociologists for Women in Society
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Women's National Abortion Action Coalition
American Bar Association
National Conference of Black Lawyers Natl. Hispanic Lawyers Association Women's Legal Defense Fund
Amer. Assoc. of Planned Parenthood Physicians American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists American Group Psychotherapy Association American Medical Women's Association American Psychiatric Association American Public Health Association Medical Committee for Human Rights
National Association of Neighborhood Health Centers National Council of Obstetrics and Gynecology National Student Nurses Association Physicians National House Staff Association Women's Medical Association
American Friends Service Committee
American Psychological Association Association for Voluntary Sterilization Family Service Association
Florence Crittenden Association of America National Committee for Children and Youth National Family Planning Forum
Planned Parenthood-World Population White House Conference on Children and Youth
American Baptist Churches in the USA
American Humanist Association
American Lutheran Church, Exec. Committee of the Committee on Church and Society
Catholics for a Free Choice
Church of the Brethren.
Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion
WOMEN
Center for Women Policy Studies
Coalition of Labor Union Women
Human Rights for Women
Intercollegiate Association of Women Students
National Black Feminists Organization
National Council of Women of the U.S.
National Women's Political Caucus
Women's Equity Action League
Women's Lobby
Women's National Democratic Club
LEGAL
American Civil Liberties Union
Natl. Emergency Civil Liberties Committee
New York Women's Bar Assoc.
MEDICAL
American College of Nurse-Midwives
American College of Osteopathic Obstetricians and Gynecologists American Medical Association
American Protestant Hospital Association
American Psychoanalytic Association
Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry
National Association of Community Health Centers
National Association of Reproductive Health Centers National Medical Association
Physicians' Forum
Student American Medical Association
SOCIAL SERVICE
American Parents Committee
Americans for Indian Opportunity
Community Service Society
Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies
National Association of Social Workers
National Council on Family Relations
National Welfare Rights Organization
President's Task Force on the Mentally Handicapped
RELIGIOUS
Ecumenical Foundation for Higher Education (Campus Clergy) Episcopal Churchwomen of the USA Friends Committee on National Legislation Moravian Church, Northern Province Synod National Council of Jewish Women
Presbyterian Church in U.S.
Religious Affairs Committee of Planned
Parenthood World Population
Southern Baptist Convention
Unitarian Universalist Association
United Church of Canada, General Council United Methodist Church
United Synagogue of America
Young Women's Christian Association
American Association of United Nations American Veterans Committee
Americans United for Separation of Church and State Congressional Black Caucus
Environmental Action
Federation of American Scientists
IMAGE
Junior League
National Abortion Rights Action League
National Committee for Children and Youth National Council of Negro Women Population Association of America Population Institute
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Social Scientists in Population Research
Union 1199 (Hospital and Health Care Employees)
U.S. National Student Association Workmen's Circle
American Ethical Union
American Jewish Congress
Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs B'nai B'rith
Central Conference of American Rabbis Church Women United, Board of Managers Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism Episcopal Church
Federation of Jewish Philanthropies
Lutheran Church in America
National Association for the Laity
National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods
Reform Church in America
Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights
Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Union of American Hebrew Congregations
Unitarian Universalist Women's Federation United Church of Christ
United Presbyterian Church, USA
Women's League for Conservative Judaism
OTHER
American Home Economics Association Americans for Democratic Action
Coalition of Concerned Black Americans
Consumer Action Now
Environmental Policy Center
Friends of the Earth
Izaak Walton League
National Abortion Federation
National Capital Tay-Sachs Foundation
National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
National Organization of Non-Parents
Population Crisis Committee
Sierra Club
Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
United Automobile Workers Union
Urban League
Zero Population Growth
February, 1979/What She Wants/Page 3