Media Center: Press Release

Physicians Denounce New State Bans on Abortion, Recalling Dangers of Era Before Roe v. Wade
06/19/2006

"We who practiced medicine before Roe v. Wade can say with certainty that abortions won't stop just because they are made illegal," doctors say.

On Saturday, Louisiana's governor signed into law a ban on almost all abortions, making her state the second this year to pass legislation banning abortion. Today, South Dakota's secretary of state announced that voters will decide in November whether to repeal an even stricter abortion ban signed by Governor Mike Rounds in March. In addition to Louisiana and South Dakota, 12 states have introduced laws this year that would outlaw abortion in most or all cases, criminalizing doctors who perform the procedure.

In response to the new wave of state abortion bans, Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health (PRCH) has released a statement from 11 physicians who provided abortion care or were involved in abortion reform in the years before Roe v. Wade legalized abortion. In their statement, the doctors note that “We who practiced medicine before Roe v. Wade can say with certainty that abortions won’t stop just because they are made illegal. Both history and present-day global experience tell us that women who are denied access to safe and legal abortions will seek illegal unsafe abortions.... We know because we were there and treated those women.” They conclude by urging state legislators to “consider the real impact of abortion bans on women and their families, and the costs to society at large.”

Each of the physicians who signed the statement has collaborated with PRCH on an oral history of his or her involvement in abortion care and activism prior to Roe v. Wade. One notable signatory is Miriam McCreary, MD, an obstetrician/gynecologist who flies to South Dakota’s only abortion clinic to provide services. Dr. McCreary has been featured in several news stories about South Dakota’s abortion ban, and received scores of letters through PRCH’s Voices of Choice website praising her work and recounting the senders’ own experiences with abortion. Joining Dr. McCreary in opposition to state abortion bans are Dr. Curtis Boyd, Dr. Ben Celniker, Dr. Wendy Chavkin, Dr. Eugene Glick, Dr. Sadja Greenwood, Dr. Mildred Hanson, Dr. Richard Hausknecht, Dr. Jane Hodgson, Dr. Harry Jonas, and Dr. Don Sloan.

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