Gerri Santoro

Once anonymous, this woman found dead from an illegal abortion on a motel room floor in June, 1964, has been identified by her sister. She was Gerri Santoro of Connecticut, a mother of two facing her third pregnancy. Santoro and her two daughters had been…

Connecting Up the Dots

By Anna Quindlen Newsweek Jan. 24 issue - There is now only a single abortion clinic in Mississippi. Once there were seven. There are nearly 3 million people living in the state. No other state with only one abortion clinic has as many residents. Mississippi…

Debate over Sex Education Heats Up

by Elizabeth Benton Summer 2001 As temperatures in Washington rose, so did the debate over pre-marital sex and abstinence-until-marriage education. On June 28, Surgeon General David Satcher issued his, "Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Sexual Behavior." The comprehensive report urges a…

Abortion / Breast Cancer Link Is Anti-Choice Propaganda

Anti-choice advocates have been irresponsibly touting a link between abortion and breast cancer for years. Careless scientists have published questionable studies which anti-choice politicians have used as excuses to pass hostile legislation. Currently Louisiana, Kansas, and Mississippi have bills mandating doctors to warn patients of…

Under the Knife and the Cross

A Wave of Catholic Hospital Mergers Is Curtailing Medical Services, Especially for Women Susan Jacoby is a freelance writer and former reporter for the Washington Post. A fellow at the Center for Scholars and Writers of the New York Public Library, she is working on…

The Bad Old Days

By Polly Rothstein In Connecticut, where I grew up, birth control was illegal. Feminists had lobbied to repeal the law for decades, but lawmakers refused. I wondered how women-in-the-know avoided pregnancy. Some men used condoms (where did they get them?), but many women had shotgun…

D&E Abortions and Partial Truth

by Polly Rothstein Abortion rights have been clobbered by a ruse of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Christian Coalition. Departing from their usual attacks on legal abortion and support for restrictions on access, they have attacked a method of abortion, dilation and…

Legal Abortion: Arguments Pro & Con

This piece was written almost 30 years ago and should be considered to be a historical document. However, instead, most points are still relevant today. Anti-Choice (RTL) Pro-choice Human life begins at conception. Therefore, abortion is murder of a person. Personhood at conception is a…