Special for 25th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade Decision Editor's Note: Jan. 22 marks the 25th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down state laws restricting abortions during the first six months of pregnancy. University of Oregon faculty experts listed below are available to comment on the significance of the decision and subsequent developments and issues related to abortion in the U.S. ROE V. "The revolutionary affect of Roe v. Wade was to shift the debate over abortion from the medical arena at the state level to the cultural arena at the national level," says University of Oregon historian James C. Mohr. A nationally recognized expert on the abortion issue, Mohr is the author of "Abortion in America: the Origins and Evolution of National Policy" published by Oxford University Press. That switch in the arena of the debate to the national arena "turned abortion into a symbolic focal point for a host of social agendas and, as a result, abortion politics have begun to influence Congress, the federal judiciary and even American foreign policy," Mohr explains. All of this is somewhat ironic, he observes, since the United States tolerated the practice of abortion from the founding of the republic through most of the 19th Century. His book also discusses why state legislatures, pushed by the medical community rather than religious groups, passed anti-abortion laws near the end the 19th Century--the same laws struck down in 1973 by the Roe decision. SOURCE: James C. Mohr, head, UO Department of History, (541) 346-5903; E-mail, <jmohr@oregon.uoregon.edu> ROE V. WADE ONE OF CENTURY'S MOST IMPORTANT WOMEN'S RIGHTS VICTORIES The U.S. Supreme Court's quarter-century-old abortion rights ruling in Roe v. Wade was as significant for women as earning the right to vote, says University of Oregon law professor Caroline Forell. "The whole meaning of Roe v. Wade is in the recognition of a woman's constitutional right to control her own body. I can't emphasize enough how important this ruling was for the advancement of women's rights," says Forell, whose expertise includes feminist jurisprudence and theory. "Indicative of this, critical reaction wasn't just limited to concerns about abortion and the unborn fetus; the furor more fundamentally demonstrated a concern about the ruling's empowerment of women." Forell says that even feminists were shocked at the completeness of the victory in that the ruling seemed to place no limits on abortion rights. "I think the high court's 1992 ruling on the Casey v. Planned Parenthood challenge to Roe v. Wade is more representative of where people now stand on abortion," says Forell. The majority ruling in that case affirmed a woman's right to abortion, but allowed states to impose some restrictions as long as they imposed no "undue burden" on a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy. "I think the Casey decision bodes pretty well for the right to abortion and makes it less likely that future challenges will be successful." SOURCE: Caroline Forell, professor, UO School of Law, (541) 346-3864; E-mail, cforell@law.uoregon.edu. RESEARCHER CALLS FOR ACTION TO MAKE UP LOST GROUND ON ABORTION RIGHTS "After 25 years of legal access to abortions, American women are losing ground," says S. Marie Harvey, director of research at the University of Oregon Center for the Study of Women in Society. Harvey is co-editor and a major contributor to the book, "Abortion in the United States: Psychological, Social, and Political Contexts," soon to be published by the American Psychological Association. She says women are facing major setbacks in the availability of abortion services today. "Access has been deteriorating for poor women, for those who live in rural areas and for teen-agers," she notes. Harvey says the number of residency programs in medical schools that offer abortion training has decreased substantially. Further, she says, the current political climate and the threat of harassment and violence has caused practicing physicians to "shy away from performing abortions because they fear violence." Harvey says health professionals must advocate for legislation and public policy that will ensure access to safe and legal abortion services for all women, coupled with education efforts that will reduce the societal need for abortion. SOURCE: S.Marie Harvey, director of research, UO Center for the Study of Women in Society (541) 346-4120; E-mail, mharvey@oregon.uoregon.edu. -30- #T-1121/Daybook,NB,NN,NW,Special