Posted on 04/20/2006 9:56:32 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
EDINBURG — On a recent flight Sarah Weddington, the lawyer who successfully argued Roe v. Wade before the Supreme Court, proudly wore a pin made popular during the height of the abortion rights movement in 1973.
The pin, an image of a coat hanger with a line through it, was just too jarring for one flight attendant, Weddington said.
“What do you have against coat hangers,” the flight attendant asked her.
The crowd of mostly University of Texas-Pan American students erupted in laughter when Weddington told that story Tuesday as the final speaker in the UTPA Distinguished Speaker series. Previous speakers included CNN morning anchor Soledad O’Brien, Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward of Watergate fame and CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
It was clear, Weddington told the crowd, that young people needed to be reminded about how “important history is.”
Like the flight attendant, she said, a majority of the UTPA students listening to her at the Student Union Theater were born after the Roe v. Wade case decision to legalize abortion. So the significance of the coat hanger, a tool that was commonly used in illegal abortions, would be lost on them, too.
Maria Moreno and her husband, Silvestre, compared Weddington’s speech to their time at UTPA in the early ’70s when the school hosted Tuesday and Thursday night discussions about the Vietnam War, Watergate, the Chicano movement and abortion.
Students were politically active and organized frequently, Maria Moreno said.
“They just don’t know about (Roe v. Wade), they are too young,” she said. “But it was a big deal then.”
The Morenos, who are from Mercedes, heard about the speech from their son, Javier, a 24-year-old UTPA student who hoped Weddington would share her experiences about her time, from 1973 to 1978, as a Representative in the Texas House.
“She has been really important in the political community in Austin,” he said.
Many students first heard about the speech in their political science classes.
Jarom Peña, a 24-year-old electrical engineering student, also wanted to hear about Weddington’s experience as a civil rights leader, which included a stint as legal counsel to President Jimmy Carter for women’s issues.
“I want to hear more about what she went through as a woman lawyer and all the struggles she had to overcome.” ——— Andres R. Martinez covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4434.
A long-exploded myth created out of thin air by abortion propagandists.
Prior to Roe v. Wade, almost all illegal abortions were performed by sleazy, incompetent but licensed doctors using medical equipment.
Just like today.
Why not a new born with a pair of scissors stuck in it's skull? Let's be realistic here. More die on the abortion tables than from coat hangers.
- Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood President & Founder
"We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population," she said, "if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members."
- Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood President & Founder
"The purpose in promoting birth control was "to create a race of thoroughbreds,"
- Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood President & Founder
That's laughable. Civil rights for whom? Babies don't have a right to live, huh, Ms. Weddington. You're a sick sick woman.
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