BEFORE ROE V. WADE Voices that shaped the abortion debate before the Supreme Court’s ruling WITH A NEW AFTERWORD Linda Greenhouse and Reva B. Siegel Yale Law School This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. The authors are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other profes sional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. © 2012 by Linda Greenhouse and Reva B. Siegel This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License. Full License available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/legalcode You are free to: Share — to copy, distribute and transmit this book. Under the Following Conditions: You must attribute this book to the authors, You may not use this book for commerial purposes, You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. These conditions may be waived by permission of the copyright holders. ISBN: 978-0-615-64821-7 TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword .............................................................viii Part I: Reform, Repeal, Religion and Reaction ............................1 Introduction ............................................................3 Reform .................................................................7 Letter to the Society for Humane Abortion .............................7 “Rush” Procedure for Going to Japan ..................................8 The Lesser of Two Evils by Sherri Chessen Finkbine ................... 11 Abortion: The Law and the Reality in 1970 by Jane E. Hodgson, M.D. ........................................ 19 Dr. Hodgson’s Affidavit ............................................. 21 Statement of Dr. Hodgson’s Patient .................................. 22 Illegal Abortion as a Public Health Problem by Mary Steichen Calderone ...................................... 22 American Law Institute Abortion Policy, 1962 ........................ 24 American Medical Association Policy Statements, 1967 and 1970 ...... 25 Clergy Consultation Service Statement ............................... 29 Abortion Law Reform in the United States by Jimmye Kimmey ....... 31 “Right to Choose” Memorandum by Jimmye Kimmey ................ 33 Repeal ................................................................ 35 National Organization for Women, Bill of Rights. 36 Abortion: A Woman’s Civil Right by Betty Friedan ................... 38 NARAL Policy Statement ........................................... 40 iv BEFORE ROE V. WADE Call to Women’s Strike for Equality by Betty Friedan ................. 41 “Speak-Out-Rage” .................................................. 45 Feminist as Anti-Abortionist by Sidney Callahan ..................... 46 Black Women’s Manifesto by Frances Beal ............................ 49 Black Women and the Motherhood Myth by Bev Cole ................ 52 Zero Population Growth ............................................ 55 A Sex Counseling Service for College Students by Philip M. Sarrel and Lorna J. Sarrel ............................ 58 Sex and the Yale Student by the Student Committee on Human Sexuality ............................................. 63 Religion ............................................................... 69 Union for Reform Judaism, 1967 ..................................... 69 United Methodist Church, Statement of Social Principles, 1972 ........ 70 Southern Baptist Convention, Resolution on Abortion, 1971 ........... 71 National Association of Evangelicals, Statement on Abortion, 1971 ..... 72 Catholic Church Statement: Humanae Vitae, 1968 .................... 73 Catholic Church Statement: Human Life in Our Day, 1968 ........... 77 Reaction .............................................................. 81 New Jersey Catholic Bishops’ Letter .................................. 81 Abortion in Perspective by Robert M. Byrn ........................... 86 Abortion and Social Justice (Americans United for Life) .............. 88 Similarly, I Will Not...Cause Abortion by Robert D. Knapp, M.D. ..... 94 New Jersey Assembly Testimony ..................................... 97 Handbook on Abortion by J. C. Willke, M.D. and Barbara Willke ..... 99 Abortion Makes Strange Bedfellows: GOP and GOD by Lawrence T. King. .113 Part II: Conflict Constitutionalized: The Years Before Roe .............117 Introduction .........................................................119 Abortion Law Reform and Repeal: Legislative and Judicial Developments by Ruth Roemer ..........................121 TabLE of CONteNTS v Legislation: New York ................................................127 Everywoman’s Abortions: “The Oppressor Is Man” by Susan Brownmiller ...........................................127 Constitutional Question: Is There a Right to Abortion? by Linda Greenhouse ...........................................130 Plaintiffs’ Brief,Abramowicz v. Lefkowitz ............................140 Memorandum of Assemblywoman Constance E. Cook. 147 Plaintiff-Appellant’s Brief,Byrn v. New York City Health & Hospitals Corporation ..................................150 Letter from President Nixon to Cardinal Cooke .....................157 Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller’s Veto Message ......................158 The City Politic: The Case of the Missing Abortion Lobbyists by Hope Spencer ................................................160 Litigation: Connecticut ...............................................163 Women vs. Connecticut Thoughts on Strategy .......................163 Women vs. Connecticut Organizing Pamphlet. 167 Memorandum of Decision, Abele v. Markle I ........................177 Connecticut Legislative Hearing Testimony .........................184 Memorandum of Decision, Abele v. Markle II ........................191 Crosscurrents in the National Arena, 1972 ..............................197 Plaintiff’s Brief,Struck v. Secretary of Defense ........................198 Rockefeller Commission Report ....................................201 Abortion Seen Up to Woman, Doctor by George Gallup .............207 Statement About the Report of the Commission on Population Growth and the American Future .................210 Swing to Right Seen Among Catholics, Jews by Louis Cassels .........212 Assault Book by Patrick Buchanan .................................. 215 Women’s Libbers Do NOT Speak for Us by Phyllis Schlafly .......... 218 Part III: Speaking to the Court. .221 Roe v. Wade in Context ...............................................224 A Changing Landscape ...............................................226 vi BEFORE ROE V. WADE Argument and Decision ...............................................228 Brief for Appellants Jane Roe et al .....................................230 Brief for Appellee Henry Wade ........................................239 Announcing the Decision .............................................245 Afterword ...........................................................253 Before (and After) Roe v. Wade: New Questions About Backlash .........263 I. ABORTION’S MANY MEANINGS: CLAIMS AND FRAMES BEFORE ROE ...................................................270 A. Public Health ...................................................271 B. Environment and Regulation .....................................273 C. Sexual Freedom ..................................................275 D. Feminist Voices ..................................................277 II. CONFLICT BEFORE ROE .........................................281 A. The Catholic Church’s Opposition to Legislative Reform ...........282 B. Party Realignment: Republican Efforts to Recruit Catholic Votes in the 1972 Presidential Campaign .................................286 C. Abortion and Party Realignment .................................300 III. BLAMING ROE: JURICENTRIC AND POLITICAL ACCOUNTS OF CONFLICT ......................................304 A. Claims About Roe ...............................................304 B. Court-Centered and Political Accounts of Conflict: Some Questions ....................................................308 IV. CONCLUSION. 317 Appendix: Briefs Filed by “Friends of the Court” (Amici Curiae) .......319 For Jane Roe: Medical Brief ...........................................319 For Jane Roe: Public Health and Poverty Brief ..........................325 For Jane Roe: “New Women Lawyers” Brief ............................329 For Jane Roe: Planned Parenthood Brief ...............................338 For Jane Roe: Liberal Religious Brief ...................................340 For Jane Roe: California Committee to Legalize Abortion Brief .........342 TabLE of CONteNTS vii For Henry Wade: Americans United for Life Brief ......................348 For Henry Wade: Dissenting Obstetricians’ Brief .......................350 For Henry Wade: National Right to Life Committee Brief ..............353 For Henry Wade: Women’s Brief ......................................360 Acknowledgments ..................................................363 Sources and Suggested Reading ...................................365 Index ..................................................................381 About the Authors ..................................................391 FOREWORD This book’s purpose is to recapture a time that is rapidly fading from memory. During the years before January 22, 1973, the day on which the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade and proclaimed that the Constitution protected a woman’s right