For immediate release
Contact:
The Weddington Center
(512)-478-7163
12 noon, Tuesday, September 6, 2005 Speakers: Sarah Weddington, Winning Attorney, Roe v Wade and Adjunct Professor, University of Texas Barbara Hines, Clinical Professor of Law, University of Texas Law School Victoria Foe, Research Professor, Dept. of Biology, University of Washington Judy Smith, Director of HomeWord an Affordable Housing Developer in Missoula, Montana Lin Smith, Media Specialist, Missoula, Montana A Discussion of Options Available to Women Before Abortion was Legal, A Topic Especially Pertinent Due to the Recent Nomination of a U. S. Supreme Court Justice |
Former staffers from The Rag, a newspaper that put Austin on the counter-culture map from 1966 to 1977 will be conducting a panel discussion focusing on the state of women’s and reproductive rights before the Roe v Wade decision. The group will be in town for The Rag Reunion taking place during Labor Day Weekend. At this event, they will be talking about the history they share as part of the early women’s movement in Austin. These trailblazing women, all former UT students, organized a referral project to inform women about their bodies, about their rights, about available birth control options and about safe abortion. At a time when Texas law banned abortion “unless necessary” to save the woman’s life, the group printed public service articles about safe and unsafe abortion methods and sources. This same group eventually recruited a young Austin attorney, Sarah Weddington, to their cause. Weddington, currently an adjunct professor at UT, went on to file and later successfully argue the case of Roe v Wade before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Join these amazing and ground-breaking women for an open question and answer session that is sure to be informative and memorable. The timing of the event is historical in itself; confirmation hearings will be taking place simultaneously in Washington, DC for President Bush’s nominee for the Supreme Court, John Roberts.
Sponsored by Voices for Choices, (832)-541-3262
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC—PANEL MEMBERS WILL HAVE PRESS AVAILABILITY BEFORE PANEL DISCUSSION BEGINNING AT 11:30 a.m. AND AFTER
Return to The Rag pages.