ROE V. WADE ANNIVERSARY TO BE COMMEMORATED AT JACOBS CENTER TONIGHT

 January 19, 2012 (San Diego) – Tonight, the Coalition for Reproductive Choice will commemorate the 39th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Speakers will give international and local perspectives on the battle over reproductive rights. The event will be held at the Joe & Vi Jacobs Center, 404 Euclid Avenue in San Diego.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision legalized most abortions, finding that the Constitutional right to privacy protects a woman’s choice to end a pregnancy before the viability stage. But today, a national ban on abortion is a very real prospect. All current Republican presidential candidates favor outlawing abortion. Some would prohibit abortion when a mother’s life is at stake or when she is raped. The Supreme Court is just one vote away from repealing Roe v. Wade, so legality of abortion in the U.S. will hinge on the next president’s appointment of a justice to fill a future opening on the high court.

A news story last month revealed that a teen died because she halted cancer treatment after becoming pregnant. That was her choice, but should women have a right to choose differently? Other conditions that can threaten a pregnant woman's life include pre-eclampsia, extreme high blood pressure, some emergency surgeries, and tubal (ectopic pregnancies).

A constitutional amendment declaring that life begins at conception, something some conservative candidates support, would also outlaw the morning after pill and some forms of birth control, such as the IUD, which prevent a fertilized egg from implanting.

Religious conservatives believe such matters such be left to God. Pro-choice advocate believe a woman should have the right to make decisions, ideally after consulting with her family and physician. Perhaps no other issue has so inflamed American politics over the past four decades.

Tickets for tonight's program will be available at the door for $65. For more information, visit http://action.ppactionca.org/site/Calendar?id=100681&view=Detail .