Modern Women

On the 28th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, here are quotations from women in history and contemporary culture who oppose abortion. They are presented to show the diversity of women who oppose abortion.

“Guilty? Yes. No matter what the motive, love of ease, or a desire to save from suffering the unborn innocent, the woman is awfully guilty who commits the deed. It will burden her conscience in life, it will burden her soul in death; But oh, thrice guilty is he who drove her to the desperation which impelled her to the crime!”

— Susan B. Anthony, 1869

“When we consider that women are treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit.”

— Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 1873

“I would never, personally, be able to [have an abortion], because down the road it would always haunt me.”

— Britney Spears, 2000

“I was once pro-choice. And the thing that changed my mind was, I read my husband's biology books, medical books and what I learned is simply what it states — this isn't even morally — this is pure biology. At the moment of conception, a life starts. And this life has its own unique set of DNA, which contains a blueprint for the whole genetic being. The sex is determined. Now people ask the question, well, is it a human being? We know there's a life because it's growing and changing.”

— Supermodel Kathy Ireland, 1998

“[Abortion] was not an option for me.” Having “worked as a labor and delivery nurse ... I've seen ultrasounds ... you know that those babies are real.” [She reminded the audience that if she had had an abortion, the world would have been deprived of the great singing talent of her daughter and fellow performer, Wynonna Judd.]

— Country singer Naomi Judd on the Sally Jesse Raphael show, 1998

“I am in no position to judge other women, you know. But I mean, why did she get pregnant? It's not good for women to go through the procedure [abortion] and have something living sucked out of their bodies. It belittles women. Even though some women say, ‘Oh, I don't mind to have one,’ every time a woman has an abortion, it just crushes her self-esteem smaller and smaller and smaller.”

— Dolores O'Riordan, lead vocalist, The Cranberries, 1996

“There is a day coming when we will hear the voice from within the womb, when its own authentic pain will be undeniable, when we will know with certainty that it is saying, ‘I want to live. I have a right to live. I do not need your permission to live.’”

— Mary McAleese, president of the Republic of Ireland

[Her mother was initially devastated to find that she was pregnant with the 14th child in her family.] However, a priest “told her that she had no right to go against nature [by having an abortion]. … So I have to admit that in a way, I owe my life to that priest.”

— Celine Dion, 2000