Pro-choice forces mark gloomy anniversary

As CL goes to press, the Georgia Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League is gearing up for a special observance of the first 100 days of the Bush administration.

It’s safe to say that champagne corks are unlikely to pop. Like pro-choice and family planning groups across the nation, GARAL is convinced that the new president is committed to undoing decades of legislation allowing women to make their own reproductive choices.

“The president began his assault with the appointment of the anti-choice John Ashcroft for attorney general,” says GARAL Executive Director Beth Cope, citing administration decisions to reinstate the Reagan-era “global gag rule” banning U.S. aid to organizations that mention abortion; to threaten to “review” already-granted federal approval of RU-486, the “abortion pill”; and to indicate it may eliminate contraceptive coverage on federal employees’ insurance, among others.

“The worst is yet to come,” says Cope. “President Bush will likely name two to three Supreme Court justices over the course of his term, enough to overturn Roe v. Wade.”??