Los Altos Town Crier
By Allyson Johnson
The Los Altos/Mountain View branch of the American Association of University Women hosted a Zoom meeting Jan. 22 to mark the 49th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.
Three speakers reviewed the history of reproductive freedom in the U.S. and the latest threats to abortion access.
Professor Leslie J Reagan of the University of Illinois, author of two books and a specialist on the history of women’s health in the U.S., reminded the group that before Roe v. Wade, tens of thousands of women died each year in the U.S. due to botched abortions. After Roe v. Wade invalidated abortion bans across the country, the maternal mortality rate dropped between 35-50% in each state.