BY MS. EDITORS | The leaked draft opinion signaling the Supreme Court’s majority decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has sent shock waves across the U.S. When a final decision is issued before the end of the Supreme Court’s term (likely in June), it will represent the biggest blow to women’s constitutional rights in history.
In 1972, when abortion was still illegal throughout most of the country, 53 well-known U.S. women courageously declared “We Have Had Abortions” in the pages of the preview issue of Ms. magazine.
The Washington Post credited the petition with the “start of a powerful strategy in the U.S. abortion rights movement: ending the secrecy that had kept many women out of the fight.” Executive editor Kathy Spillar told the Washington Post in a recent interview, “It made it acceptable to speak about it.”
The next year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that abortion was a fundamental right protected by the U.S. Constitution. This year, the Supreme Court appears poised to reverse this position. In this perilous time, Ms. is relaunching the petition—with the encouragement and support of some of the original 1972 signers. This year alone, the petition has garnered almost 7,000 signatories.
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