Bush Continues Assault on a Woman’s Right to Choose
Synopsis: President Bush attempts to give "personhood" to a fetus or embryo by signing the Unborn Victims of Violence Act.
Statement of Melissa Kogut, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts
Boston, MA – For the second time in six months, President Bush has signed federal legislation whose ultimate goal is to deprive women of their constitutional right to choose. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act, signed today by the President in is a deceptive bill that claims to protect women from violence. In fact, its true intent is to undermine Roe v. Wade while doing nothing to safeguard women from senseless acts of violence. By establishing “personhood” for a fetus or embryo, UVVA sets a dangerous legal precedent that may undermine the constitutional foundation of the Roe decision while doing nothing to make women safer.
Anti-choice leader Samuel Casey clearly explained the true motivation behind the “Unborn Victims of Violence Act: “In as many areas as we can, we want to put on the books that the embryo is a person…That sets the stage for a jurist to acknowledge that human beings at any stage of development deserve protection – even protection that would trump a woman’s interest in terminating a pregnancy.” (Los Angeles Times, January 19, 2003)
Violence against women, including pregnant women, is a deplorable problem in our country. Attacks on a woman that harm or end her pregnancy are horrific and harsh penalties should be leveled against those who commit such terrible acts. Every woman must have the right to bear a healthy child at the time of her choosing and free from the threat of violence. The pro-choice movement opposes any attempt to deny women of that right – whether by anti-choice politicians or violent criminals.
Sadly, anti-choice lawmakers have capitalized on the issue of violence that harms or ends a pregnancy to further its campaign to undermine a woman’s right to choose. The strategy to undermine the legal protections of Roe v. Wade is not limited to the bill signed by the President. Around the country, anti-choice legislators have moved forward with initiatives to grant separate legal status to the fetus or embryo as early as the moment after conception. They are even getting bolder in trying to force direct legal challenges to Roe in a number of states, and in two federal courts.
With potential Supreme Court vacancies looming, those who oppose a woman’s right to choose are doing everything possible to create conditions in which an anti-choice Court could reverse the historic Roe v. Wade decision. The bill passed by the Senate is a critical part of their legal strategy and central to the overall anti-choice campaign.
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