Choice Coalition, Mayor Ballard refused to sign the ordinance, which, in effect, allows it to become law without his "official" approval.
December, 1978: Abortion rights activists achieved stunning victories in the November elections, scoring significantly in a number of races around the nation.
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November, 1978: Do you think you've done all you can to, ensure women's reproductive rights? Think again. More anti-abortion legislation is being introduced on city, state, and federal levels; only 4 states now pay for all Medicaid abortions. Only 8 more state resolutions are necessary to convene a Constitutional Convention...aimed at attempting to deny abortion rights by constitutional amendment.
How are these things possible? Because "activist” women in Cleveland and elsewhere allow them to happen....Feminists are at work on so many valid concerns that it seems as if there just isn't enough time and energy to go around. But if there are not enough women willing to take the time and energy to ensure reproductive freedom for all women, then we must re-evaluate what it is we are working for....
February, 1979: In one strong voice, over 200 women, men and children protested the National Right to Life Committee's meeting at the entrance to Cleveland's Music Hall on January 22.... Although we are pleased by the increasing number of prochoice activists, we still need many more.... It's your life they're after. Fight for it.
August, 1979: On July 18, both houses of the Ohio Legislature passed the Ohio Budget Bill, complete with an anti-abortion rider which is even stricter than the Hyde Amendment passed three years ago......
September, 1979: On August 22, Judge Leroy Contie handed down his long-awaited ruling on the infamous "Akron Ordinance." Contie struck down the four most oppressive sections of the ordinance.... (Susan Lipkin)
November, 1979: The rights of women
on
Medicaid have received a boost-at least for now. On September 12, Judge Joseph P. Kinneary issued a preliminary injunction against the "Meshel Amendment" to the Ohio Budget Bill, which has placed severe restrictions on public funding for abortions.
January, 1980: Over ten years ago when feminists, including those in NOW, began organizing around the issue of abortion, their demand was to repeal all abortion laws.... The original idea of repeal has almost been buried, and often confused amidst all the discussion of reforming or liberalizing the laws.... We don't need laws to steer us away from quacks.... There are many laws governing the practice of medicine in order to insure quality care, but the abortion law is the only one that dictates the permissible actions of the patient. (Kathryn Scarbrough and Lavonne Lela)
March, 1980: Because of a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on February 19, Medicaid must pay for abortions for poor women who want them. In a 6-3 decision, the Court said that Medicaid must pay for all "medically necessary" abortions...until the Court hands down a decision on two abortionfunding cases now pending before it.... Ohio has been under court order to pay for all medically necessary abortions since September, 1979 when Federal Judge Joseph Kinneary ruled that language attached to the State budget restricting public funding of abortion was illegal.... It is feared that because of the complex nature of both rulings, physicians and public hospitals will continue to refuse abortions to 1poor women who need to use their Medicaid cards for health care.
control, unwanted pregnancies, and mandatory motherhood, women have not gained control over their reproductive lives.... In a time when our scientific, technological society makes pregnancy at least more profitable than before, we're considering a 9-month production break to become surrogate mothers. All proceeds will be used to support the struggle for reproductive rights....
February/March, 1981: To date, 41 state legislatures have passed statutes which restrict Medicaid funding for abortion, and 2 states have
CELEBRATE A DECADE OF "CHOICE
enacted statutes that restrict abortion for minors. In Ohio, 3 anti-choice bills are now in committee....
April, 1981: The Right...is skillfully exploiting the feelings of many Americans on the volatile issue of abortion to suppress debate on issues of equal importance and to elect legislators who will advance its programs. The Right-to-Life Society and other grassroots organizations provide the Right, with a ready-made constituency and a pool of volunteer labor.... I would guess that the vast majority of the thousands of women who picket, phone, lobby and bake for fetal rights also hold views on domestic and foreign policy that line up pretty well with those of the (mostly male) leaders of their movement. We are a long way from being able to unite around common concerns with these activists, even though most are
women....
What worries me is the fact that, as the country heads into an era of greater political polarization than we have known since perhaps the 1950's, the abortion issue has the potential to divide those of us who do agree on most matters, who regard ourselves as feminist, left, or progressive....
We need to avoid the trap of single-issue politics, and recognize that even more is at stake than the right of women to control their lives through reproductive choice.... (Debra Van Kleef)
June, 1981: In a country where such events as the hostage "crisis" and the assassination attempt on Reagan are used to influence political events, it is not surprising that the abortion issue is strangling in a ·January, 1981: Still faced with inadequate, birth web of anti-intellectual emotionalism. Nowhere is.
:
this more evident than on, the floor of Congress.
In April, Senator John East...discredited himself and his colleagues by conducting the most one-sided hearings on a constitutional issue in memory..... He was attempting to establish "scientifically" that life begins at conception.... East's outrageous orchestration of the hearings alienated both Republicans and Democrats alike, evidenced by the fact that not a single subcommittee member attended.
A similar fiasco occurred in the Ohio Legislature which last month conducted hearings on HB'92. Midway through the hearings, the legislative process was abruptly halted due to perceived breaches of protocol. The miffed subcommittee responded by tabling the bill which, in effect, meant a pro-choice victory by default.
....Unfortunately, we cannot count on the Rightto-Life forces to continue their self-defeating tactics. We must remain vigilant, and, where possible, we must influence, direct and control legislation. But to expect justice in a system so unresponsive to women's fundamental right to self-determination is politically naive. We should be exploring contingency plans now-plans such as grassroots organizing of alternatives to legal abortions, including training ourselves to perform menstrual extractions and setting up a network of physicians willing to challenge the system.
October, 1981: Over 1,000 reproductive rights activists marched in Dayton, Ohio on Sunday, September 28 to protest the state-wide meeting and rally of the so-called "Right-to-Life" organization.
November, 1981: At least one union, the American Federation of Government Employees, has resisted the Reagan Administration's September 24 announcement that it was cutting abortion coverage from Federal Employee Health Benefits programs....
January, 1982: Several serious threats to freedom of choice and reproductive rights are before us as we plan this year's annual Supreme Court anniversary
events.
Nationally, there are a number of anti-abortion initiatives. First, the Constitutional Amendment...which Senator Orrin Hatch plans to bring...before the full Senate Judiciary Committee within a month and expects a Senate vote by early spring. This bill...is a more serious threat than previous constitutional amendments because it stands a better chance of passing. [Other] groups are supporting the Human Life Statute (old S.158), newly introduced by Senator Helms as S.1741....
Pro-choice individuals have waited too long for anti-choice forces to disappear of their own accord.... [T]hey remain united in purpose and are achieving victories: ...S.B. 315, the "informed consent" harassment measure, passed handily in the Ohio Senate this November; the City of Akron is appealing the ruling of unconstitutionality for the "Akron Ordinance" requiring parental consent for abortions. The list goes on....
December, 1982: Chris Link of EFCO said that 1982 was a good year for reproductive rights campaigning. Describing the work of CARAL, one of the most active reproductive rights groups in this area, Link explained, "Clearly, one of their best results was moving the reproductive rights issue back into a spectrum where candidates could feel comfortable with it. In the 1980 elections, the whole reproductive rights movement finally woke up and realized that single issue politics fits electoral action very well."
January/February, 1983: The Hyde Amendment, which eliminated federal Medicaid funds for aboition...has passed yearly with fewer and fewer excep-
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April-May, 1983/What She Wants/Page 11