---
title: America’s Growing Fault Lines
date: 2022-05-20T10:13:17-04:00
author: OBOS Admin
canonical_url: "https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/americas-growing-fault-lines"
section: Blog (Archive)
---
[Donate](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/donate)

[From the Archives of Our Bodies, Our Blog](/blog)# America’s Growing Fault Lines

By Saniya Ghanoui • May 20, 2022

Please note: This entry -- originally posted at [Our Bodies, Our Blog](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog) -- has not been updated since the publication date listed above.

![Supreme Court abortion](data:image/png;base64,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)Abortion-rights activists celebrate in front of the Supreme Court on June 27. Photo: Rena Schild 

by Alice Rothchild  
  
The following is an excerpt from Alice Rothchild’s op-ed, originally published in the [*Seattle Times*](https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/americas-growing-fault-lines/).  
  
I came of age before abortion was legal, when birth control choices were limited and not widely available. This meant that every heterosexual encounter was potentially fraught with the risk of pregnancy, the ruining of a woman’s aspirations, an ill-timed wedding, the whispered fears of back alley abortions, more acute for poor women and women of color. I am of the generation that fought for and celebrated the recognition that women have the right to control their own bodies; to choose education, work, relationships, children or not; to live their lives with options and autonomy long denied by biology and culture. We called this progress.

  
  
As a practicing obstetrician-gynecologist for almost 40 years, I witnessed women making these very personal choices, each in their own private way. The issue of when life began or the right to terminate a pregnancy was understood to be a deeply personal, religious question. This was not a partisan issue; the Republican Party was pro-abortion rights until 1980, reproductive care was women’s health care.

  
  
How did the right-to-life, anti-abortion movement become the banner for our strident culture wars, the call to action for a huge lurch to the right in this country?

---

#### 0 Response

Our Bodies Ourselves is no longer able to accept comments.

![](/assets/img/monogram.webp)### *Why You Can* **Trust Us** 

- We rigorously evaluate all content
- We embrace a reproductive justice framework
- We don’t accept ads or sell products
- We reject funding from the pharmaceutical industry
- We counter misinformation and disinformation
- We address the social, political, and economic factors that affect health and sexuality

[read more](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/why-you-can-trust-us)

Share

[](javascript:void();)[](javascript:void();)[](javascript:void();)[](javascript:void();)