30 years after Roe vs. Wade, women debate abortion.

Byline: GAYLE ATTEBERRY For The Register-Guard

HOW MANY WOMEN do you know who have had an abortion are happy about it? If you are like me, the answer is none.

This week, we commemorate the 30th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. Thirty years of legalized abortion have not helped women. Silent No More, a new national group with an Oregon chapter, is stepping forward this week to attest to that very fact. Women who have had abortions and have suffered silently with guilt, grief and depression have banded together in this group to speak out.

"We are the voice that hasn't been heard," says Georgette Forney, co-founder of Silent No More, who had an abortion at age 16.

"There is a lot of talk about whether or not abortion should be legal, but very little attention is given to the women who have actually had abortions. I regret having an abortion, and I know millions of women feel the same way. The truth is abortion affects us physically, emotionally and spiritually. It's time to speak honestly about the pain we've lived with."

Recent California studies found that women who have abortions are at significantly higher risk of death than women who give birth. Using Medicaid records, researchers followed medical records of 173,279 women who had an induced abortion or a delivery. Compared with those who gave birth, women who aborted had a 154 percent higher suicide rate in the following eight years after their abortion. Women who aborted were 63 percent more likely to receive mental health care within 90 days of their abortions compared with those who delivered.

Why would this be? Young women facing an unexpected pregnancy most often choose abortion not as a child chooses an ice cream cone, but as a wild animal gnaws off its foot to escape a trap. Fear of the future, pressure from boyfriends and peers to abort, inadequate information about fetal development and a lack of awareness of help available in the community for pregnant women - all these are forces which push a girl into getting a hasty, ill-thought-out abortion. Time then becomes her enemy, as she eventually realizes she destroyed her own child and tries to cope with guilt and grief.

Many states have passed 24-hour waiting periods and parental notification laws to allow girls time to access important information. Routine use of ultrasound has made the humanity of the unborn child more visible. These are factors in declining national abortion numbers and rates; the number of doctors willing to do abortions is also declining. This past year, Eugene's only abortion clinic closed its doors.

In light of the emotional and physical harm abortion does to women, the decline in the number of abortions is good news. However, abortion rights groups, unmoved by mounting evidence of women's post-abortion distress, push to expand access to abortion. Mandating that hospitals provide abortion, promoting RU-486 (the abortion pill) and opposing 24-hour waiting periods are part of their agenda.

It is hoped that Congress will soon pass the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act, which will allow hospitals to choose for themselves whether or not to do abortions. This session, the Oregon Legislature will hopefully pass a 24-hour waiting period.

For years, the abortion-rights crowd, claiming to be the voice of women, has insisted that women are better off with unlimited abortion access. Time and experience have proved them wrong. By stepping forth and speaking the truth about abortion's tragic aftermath, the women of Silent No More are taking back the microphone.

Gayle Atteberry of Eugene is executive director of Oregon Right to Life.