Opening Doors: Roe v Wade

By Linda Robertson Bourgeois, Ph.D.

The historical beginnings of abortion and the women involved leading up to the Supreme Court Decision. A comparison is presented of Dred Scot and how it relates to Roe v Wade.  There is also an uneditd conversation with a staff member who was also a warrior for women's rights from the beginning.  A timeline of events walk the reader through the national events up until 2007. Other events have happened after this time, however, they are not presented.

• Language: English
• Publisher: MRR Publishers
• Release date: Aug 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201037109

Linda Robertson Bourgeois, Ph.D.

Dr. Bourgeois writes from home or wherever she might be. Her mind does not follow a linear pattern but rather she is a sporadic thinker…always seeing the calligraphy of colors, sounds and minutiae surrounding her. She is a self-publshed author, mainly books about family for family. She took her doctoral degree at age 69. Dr. Bourgeois occassionaly writes in her diary. The diary chronicles the bits and pieces of life left behind when one dies as well as the bits and pieces of life as lived. She wakes up in a new world every day! Not believing her work was good enough for a book, a diary was the next best thing to express her thoughts. "My children are my greatest achievement!", she states. Dr. Bourgeois continues to live with neuroendocrine cancer of the pancreas.

Book preview

Opening Doors: Roe v Wade

Public Policy

Linda Robertson Bourgeois, Ph.D.

Dedication

For all the young ladies who walked through the doors of The Pink Building

Foreword

The world has evolved during my professional career and so have our social conventions. I graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1968 and then went to medical school. In 1973 following a Supreme Court decision, female Air Force members were for the first time allowed to have adopted children (or their own children) occupy family housing on base and given all the same privileges as children of male members. Then in 1975 pregnant female members had a choice to be discharged or remain in service if they were pregnant or decided to adopt. In 1976 the WAF (Women’s Air Force) was terminated, and women were in the regular Air Force and the first women were selected for pilot school and for admission to the Air Force Academy. The world had changed indeed. No longer were pregnant Air Force members discharged from service.

Pregnancies have a 25% spontaneous miscarriage rate of which the mother will recognize 10-15%. Worldwide, elective abortions are estimated to account for 25% of pregnancies with fifty-six million abortions per year in 2010-2020. The rate is the same in countries where the procedure is legal or illegal. Many concerned citizens know that a legal abortion is much safer than an illegal one and is also much cheaper. The decision of a mother to have an abortion is a very personal one and society must be respectful of personal liberty. The responsibility of society to respect the right of the unborn fetus over the mother’s right is another issue which brings in ethical issues which require respect as well. Citizens who feel strongly about this justly refuse that their tax dollars are used to kill fetuses. It is a political situation fraught with controversy that our Republic must resolve to suture the wounds of our civil society while protecting the liberty of voting citizens.

This review of the legal history of abortion law in the United States is timely. We need to pause and slowly come to consensus on this issue. The States will each have a different way of resolving this. The constitution is to protect life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Abortion puts this all-in conflict. Respecting this reality on the part of all parties of these disagreements perhaps will help bring a resolution for us all.

As a physician, you are there to help the patient. They often refuse to stop smoking, drinking alcohol, or abusing drugs, but you still must care for them in any case. Desperate pregnant women can be suicidal and pressures to pursue a career, or a disrupted relationship, or health and mental health issues confound decision making. Providing a safe abortion to women who have made their decision about an abortion is a positive public good for many. A country which defends this liberty deserves citizen support as well as respect for those dissenting.

Warren D. Everett, M.D.

Preface

At 17 she was pregnant . I did not know what she would do and never found out.

My life went on without any thought about her and what she might be feeling or having to deal with because of the situation. After graduating from college, my teaching career started and years later another brilliant young lady, who was graduating, gave up her scholarships and immediately departed to spend time away from home, to visit with her grandmother in another state.

This is one of the ways young girls dealt with unwanted pregnancies back then.

A student at Calhoun Community College asked for my vita’ and I gave it to her without asking why. She gave it to the Vice President of the Women’s Community Health Center. They were hiring for a new administrator. Drinking coffee while preparing for class one morning, I received a phone call asking me to come in for an interview. I asked the lady who she was and what position I was interviewing for because I had not applied for a position. The lady laughed and said You do not know who I am. And I said No. After she explained I said I would come to the hotel before class to speak with her. The