Media Center: Press Release

“What we know about John Roberts concerns us—but what we don't know about him alarms us even more,” doctors who provided and facilitated abortions before Roe v. Wade say in statement released by Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health

Washington, DC—With the U.S. Senate set to begin hearings Monday on whether to confirm Judge John Roberts as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, doctors who helped provide abortions before Roe v. Wade said today that his views on privacy rights and abortion must be clarified during the confirmation process.

In a statement issued today by Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health, more than a dozen doctors who provided or facilitated abortions before Roe v. Wade said they are "gravely concerned" about Roberts' nomination and that they are "troubled that the country knows so little about a man who stands to hold so much power." The doctors—some of whom provided illegal abortions to women as far back as the 1940s and many of whom regularly saw women who were badly injured or died as the result of illegal, unsafe abortions—said senators should question Roberts about his views on privacy rights and abortion, and Roberts should answer those questions fully.

"What we know about John Roberts concerns us—but what we don't know about him alarms us even more," the doctors said in today's statement. Following is the full text of the statement (and brief background on the doctors' pre-Roe experiences) issued today by Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health:

"Judge John Roberts was barely out of high school when Roe v. Wade was decided, and he never really knew an America where abortion was illegal. We did. As doctors who provided or facilitated abortions before Roe v. Wade, we witnessed the devastating effects of illegal abortion first-hand.

"Many of us were besieged by women who begged us to provide safe abortions, but most frequently we tried to help women suffering from illegal, unsafe abortions. We worked in medical clinics and emergency rooms where women bled to death or died of infections. Women found a way to end a pregnancy—some used coat hangers or knitting needles, while others got un-sterile, dangerous, illegal abortions. We routinely saw women who put their lives in jeopardy in order to end a pregnancy.

"Based on what we saw in the years and decades before Roe v. Wade, we are gravely concerned about Judge Roberts' nomination to the Supreme Court. We are troubled that he once said Roe v. Wade was 'wrongly decided and should be over-ruled' and that he dismissed the fundamental right to privacy as a 'so-called' right.

"What we know about John Roberts concerns us—but what we don't know about him alarms us even more. His philosophy, views and approach are largely unclear right now, and they must be clarified during the U.S. Senate confirmation process. As Chief Justice, John Roberts would shape and lead the Supreme Court for decades. We're troubled that the country knows so little about a man who stands to hold so much power.

“Our experience before Roe v. Wade tells us that women's lives are at stake with this nomination. On behalf of the countless women and families we tried to help before Roe v. Wade—and the generations of Americans whose future is in the balance—we need the U.S. Senate to ask clear questions about John Roberts' views, and we need him to give clear answers."

Tom Allen, MD, who performed abortions within the hospital system in Pennsylvania from the 1940s through the 1970s before abortion was legal

Curtis Boyd, MD, who provided thousands of illegal abortions in the 1960s to women at his office in Athens, Texas, and later in Dallas

Benjamin Celniker, MD, who performed illegal abortions in Arizona before Roe v. Wade

Wendy Chavkin, MD, who aided the Jane Collective, an underground abortion group in Illinois in the late 1960s and early 1970s

Eugene Glick, MD, who performed illegal abortions in California for several years in the 1960s

Sadja Greenwood, MD, who provided abortions legally at her attending hospital in California and also referred countless women to Mexico and other places where they could obtain safe abortions

Mildred Hanson, MD, who provided abortions through the hospital system in Minnesota in the 1960s

Richard Hausknecht, MD, who saw thousands of women who were injured trying to get unsafe, illegal abortions

Jane Hodgson, MD, who was arrested and convicted of providing an illegal abortion in Minnesota before Roe v. Wade

Harry Jonas, MD, who saw numerous casualties of illegal abortion in Missouri hospitals

Don Sloan, MD, who provided countless illegal abortions in his office on Park Avenue in New York City before Roe v. Wade

Robert Tamis, MD, who was part of the clergy referral service in Arizona, where he performed legal abortions through the hospital system before Roe v. Wade

George Tiller, MD, who saw women in suffer from illegal abortions when he was a medical student in Kansas and went on to become an abortion provider who was shot and had his clinic bombed.

PHYSICIANS AVAILABLE FOR COMMENT