[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 1611-1612]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    30TH ANNIVERSARY OF ROE V. WADE

  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on the 30th 
anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.
  Thirty years ago, in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court held that women 
have a constitutional right to an abortion. That decision, Roe v. Wade, 
was carefully crafted to be both balanced and responsible while holding 
the rights of women in America paramount in reproductive decisions. Roe 
v. Wade held that women have a constitutional right to an abortion, but 
after viability, States can ban abortions as long as they allow 
exceptions when a woman's life or health is endangered. Since then, 
while the Court has consistently ruled in favor of this right, there is 
no doubt that this right is being eroded.
  And today, the thirtieth anniversary of that landmark decision, I 
especially want to thank those who are continuing to provide safe and 
legal reproductive health care to the women of our community. In the 
face of crippling challenges, especially violence and threats of 
violence, these health care workers have held fast in their commitment 
to provide the quality health care that all women deserve.
  Like most Americans, I believe that we must work to reduce the number 
of unwanted pregnancies through education and family planning. But I 
also believe that our Constitution protects a woman's right to privacy, 
and that this constitutional right encompasses the decision of whether 
to terminate a pregnancy.
  Unfortunately, we are seeing a concerted effort by those who seek to 
overturn this right to stack our courts with ideological conservatives 
who seek not only to weaken the right to make personal decisions about 
one's own body, but also to make exercising that right a criminal 
offense. As a Senator, I take my responsibility to advise and consent 
on nominees to the Federal judiciary extremely seriously. While I 
recognize the privilege of the President to select his nominees, I 
believe it is critical that we conduct a comprehensive evaluation of 
each nominee, since, unlike members of the President's cabinet and 
other executive branch appointees, Federal judges receive lifetime 
appointments, and are expected to interpret our Nation's laws in a fair 
and balanced manner.
  I am especially concerned that President Bush has chosen to 
renominate several extremists on this issue, especially Priscilla Owen. 
Her record demonstrates that, as a member of the strongly conservative 
Texas Supreme Court, she was an activist judge, interpreting the law to 
fit her ideological ends. Indeed, while President Bush's current White 
House Counsel was serving on the Texas Supreme Court, then-Justice 
Alberto Gonzales called one of her rulings ``an unconscionable act of 
judicial activism.''
  Many of my colleagues and I spend much of our time, and must continue 
to do so, defending the actual right to have an abortion. But in my 
mind, the easiest way to reduce the number of abortions is to prevent 
unwanted pregnancies in the first place. And I simply don't understand 
why so many anti-choice members don't understand that connection.
  Studies show that the use of family planning reduces the probability 
of a woman having an abortion by 85 percent. Unfortunately, the U.S. 
still has 3 million unintended pregnancies each year in the United 
States, half of which end in abortion. This is why I support the Equity 
in Prescription Contraceptive Coverage Act, authored by Senator Olympia 
Snowe of Maine, and why I will be cosponsoring that bill when she 
reintroduces it.
  The women in the Senate are in a unique position to fight against the 
erosion of Roe. I stand with them today to honor those who came before 
me in fighting for this right. Together we will continue to make sure 
that the women of America have the right to privacy, and the 
fundamental freedom of choice in our lives.

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