Insights & Resources

A recent statement by a Roman Catholic bishop that abortion and Roe v. Wade were the ultimate concern in this year’s presidential elect ion is beyond foolish—it is a fetishizing of the issue to the exclusion of all other moral concerns.

JULIANNA S. GONEN, PHD, JD, is the policy director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), where she works to advance legislative and regulatory policy at the federal level that ensures the well-being of LGBTQ people.

Roe v. Wade is arguably the most well-known US Supreme Court decision in modern America. Ask anyone on an American street if they’ve heard of it, and almost all will say, “Yes.” Only slightly fewer will correctly identify it as having to do with abortion, and fewer still, though still a fairly high number, will say it stands for a woman’s right to choose an abortion. But which is it?

I was moved by the testimonials of the faithful abortion providers. It is obvious that each of these individuals has done much soul searching. Abortion is not an easy decision. Every woman must decide what she is able to do in good conscience. This is indeed one of the most important decisions she will ever make.

Glenn Northern's probing reflections on “Why Faith Matters” is a great example of a religious perspective so often overlooked. When it comes to the media and public conversation, the bulk of the attention goes to religious groups that not only think they have all the answers, but also want to impose those answers into the private lives of others. It is refreshing and uplifting to turn to Mr. Northern’s writing as an example of what the conscience of a religious individual looks and sounds like, and why it should be respected.

Stephanie Toti is an advocate for sexual and reproductive rights within her own community, in society and the judicial system. She is a member of the board of directors of Whole Woman’s Health Alliance and is senior counsel and project director for the Lawyering Project, an organization she founded in 2017 aimed at improving access to reproductive healthcare in the US through litigation that advances an intersectional framework.

ABORTION RIGHTS HISTORY turned another page as the US Supreme Court neared the end of its recent term. The Court announced several important decisions, including June Medical v Russo, in which it upheld its own 2016 landmark decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt.

AS POLAND’S PARLIAMENT pursued a controversial proposal to tighten what are already among the strictest abortion laws in Europe, dozens of women in cars and on bicycles protested in central Warsaw, honking horns and displaying posters against the law. Although public gatherings are banned, videos show people in the streets of Warsaw and Poznan following recom- mended social distancing and holding placards.

RIGHT TO LIFE OF MICHIGAN dropped a petition drive to prohibit a second-trimester procedure after state election officials said the campaign didn’t produce enough valid signatures.

AMERICANS WILL MARK THE 45th anniversary of Roe v. Wade with celebration dinners, candlelight vigils and major protests. Despite the deep cultural divide Roe exposes, these events will have one thing in common: They will be almost exclusively about abortion. That’s because Americans have learned to see Roe only through a narrow lens, missing that the decision, and the right to privacy it conveyed, once stood for something much more expansive.

SUCCUMBING TO MOUNTING legal pressure, Northern Ireland’s Department of Health authorized abortion services in the region, putting into force legislation that overturns one of the world’s most restrictive abortion laws.