Roe v. Wade made abortion ‘routine’, USCCB official

Washington D.C., Jan 22, 2004 / 22:00 pm

Thirty-one years of Roe v. Wade has changed social norms and made abortion routine, said an official with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops yesterday on the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that created a legal right to abortion at any time in pregnancy for any reason.

The anniversary was marked with the annual March for Life in the nation’s capitol. Tens of thousands of people marched in protest from the Ellipse by the White House to the Supreme Court building.

"Roe v. Wade gave the United States the most extreme law on abortion in the world, short of China which coerces women to abort their children," said Cathy Cleaver Ruse, director of planning and information for the USCCB’s Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities.

"The decision taught this country that abortion is the compassionate response to a woman with an untimely pregnancy," Ruse said. "But the sad reality is that women turn to abortion because they feel they have no other choice. And this is the dirty secret of the pro-choice movement: Abortion is a reflection that we have failed to meet the needs of women."

Ruse noted, however, that U.S. culture is increasingly rejecting abortion and adopting a pro-life stance "More and more people believe that all children deserve a chance to be born, and that women deserve better than abortion."