Next president will appoint Supreme Court justice who will be swing vote;  at stake are women’s access to birth control and abortion, attorney tells local law students  

By Nadin Abbott

“We’re at a critical point,” Dr. Sarah Weddington, the lawyer who argued  Roe v. Wade before the U.S. Supreme Court, informed San Diego students at Thomas Jefferson School of Law last week. She warned that rights of women protected under the landmark decision are not secure.   

Wedddington spoke on leadership as well as women’s rights--and how dramatically times have changed. Recalling the start of her career, she told the audience, “The world I grew up in, was very different.”

Women’s rights supporters plan protest at Rep. Hunter’s office today at noon

February 24, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) –Republicans in the House pushed through a 240-185 vote to strip all Title X funding from Planned Parenthood, sparking outrage among health advocates and women’s rights supporters, who have organized multiple protest rallies in San Diego this week including a rally today outside Congressman Duncan Hunter’s office in El Cajon.
 

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Indiana) introduced the amendment to strip Planned Parenthood of all federal funds. “It is morally wrong to take the taxpayer dollars of millions of pro-life Americans and use them to fund organizations that provide and promote abortion,” he said.
 

But Title X funds have never covered abortion care, so Pence’s statement is misleading, suggests Terry O’Nell, president of the National Organization for Women. Should the measure pass the Senate and become law, she said, “Millions of women, the vast majority of whom have incomes of less than $11,000 a year, will lose access to pap smears, testing for sexually transmitted infections, and contraception.” Calling the bill “dangerous and discriminatory,” she added, “There is little doubt that the WILL kill women.”