When Washington legalized abortion, before Roe v. Wade

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Former U.S. Rep. Jolene Unsoeld, in an autobiography of bracing candor, wrote last year about a long-ago trip to Japan to get an abortion, and in gratitude for support given by her conservative father.

Such were times before Washington voted in 1970 to legalize the termination of pregnancies, three years before the U.S. Supreme Court's now-endangered landmark Roe v. Wade ruling made abortion legal across America.

As a distant mirror, the vote on Referendum 20 -- the measure which legalized abortion in Washington -- reflects very different times, but bedrock values of Washington voters.

-snip-

Botched abortions caused notable deaths, a 24-year-old woman named Raisa Trytiak whose body was found in a garbage dump, and Elizabeth Staley, 22, who died of a botched abortion in Olympia.

-snip-

Several prominent Republicans were leading advocates for legalization, notably State Sens. Joel Pritchard, Fran Holman and Charles Elicker, and State Rep. Louis North. (Pritchard would go on to serve 12 years in Congress.)

Republican Gov. Dan Evans signed legislation sending Referendum 20 to the ballot. The chief lobbyist for Washington Citizens for Abortion Reform, Marilyn Ward, would run for State Treasurer as a Republican.

-snip-

Washington voters have always displayed a strong bent toward privacy and personal autonomy.

They passed Referendum 20 with 56.5% of the vote. They strengthened abortion rights in 1991.

https://www.seattlepi.com/local/politics/article/Connelly-When-Washington-legalized-abortion-13848676.php?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailynewsletterspi&utm_term=spi

[samnsara]

1. i will never leave my state. This is my safe place for SO many issues ;)

[dewsgirl]

2. I used to feel this way about my country.

[ribrepin]

3. I voted this up

Brings back memories. I graduated in 1969 and lived out on the peninsula. I didn't know where to get birth control or an abortion thus I was clean as the driven snow.