Residents react to possibility of Roe v. Wade revision

By BRIAN SCHEID, Burlington County Times, January 21, 2005

Judy Glick Buckman of Mount Laurel said she fears the landmark Roe v. Wade decision by the U.S. Supreme Court might soon be reversed.

"It really horrifies me that (my daughter) may not have the choices I did," said Buckman. "I was grateful that I had the choice, very grateful."

On the other side, Springfield resident Jeff Wright worries that Roe v. Wade may never go away.

"I just can't believe that the people of the United States can go to bed at night in light of the fact that so many children are dying every year from abortion," he said.

Tomorrow is the 32nd anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy. Activists on both sides say the issue is as divisive as ever.

To mark the anniversary, members of the National Organization for Women plan to rally in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., tomorrow night in support of the decision.

On the other side of the issue, numerous pro-life groups will participate in the annual March for Life on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Monday.

Buckman, vice president of the South Jersey NOW-Alice Paul Chapter, said she is fearful that next year her organization may be forced to gather for a protest instead of a rally.

Buckman said with a Republican majority in Congress, a Republican president in the White House and the possibility that several members of the Supreme Court could be retiring in the near future, she's worried that Roe v. Wade could soon be reversed.

Springfield resident Jeff Wright is organizing a bus trip with Columbus Baptist Church in Mansfield to the March for Life on Monday. He said more than 50 members of his congregation are planning to take the trip.

"The Bible is a book of life and the people of our church stand for life," Wright said. "We want to get out in the public with the message of life."

Wright, who participates in pro-life protests outside a Cherry Hill abortion clinic about twice a month, said he hoped the composition of the Supreme Court would change and this would be the last year he would have to protest.

Rose Delisi, a mother of five from Florence, said she felt tomorrow's anniversary was a "national day of mourning" since Roe v. Wade legalized the "killing of thousands of innocent children." On Monday, she plans to travel to the annual March for Life, which she has done for nearly the last 20 years.

"Life is sacred to our family and we are trying to see that little lives have the same rights as anyone else has," said Delisi, who will attend the walk with her husband and their 11-year-old son.

Delisi said the re-election of President Bush was a promising sign that Roe v. Wade could be reversed.

"I think the nation has made a statement in the last election in favor of conservative family values," she said.

On the other hand, Lilyan Cralle of Willingboro, a member of the national Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, a pro-choice group, said she was "very frightened" about the future of the Roe v. Wade decision after President Bush's re-election.

"I think it's really going to set us back," she said.

She said religious conservatives tended to depict pro-choice proponents as "anti-religious," but said the issue was simply about a woman's right to choose.

"There are many religious people in America that believe in choice," she said.

E-mail: bscheid@phillyBurbs.com