OPED COLUMN, "A REAL ANNIVERSARY PRESENT," BY ERICA SACKIN, METRO, (1/22/08)

For a 35th wedding anniversary, you're supposed to get a gift of coral. If you're lucky, it comes in the form of decorative bowls, or even jewelry. 

Today marks the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the historic court case that legalized abortion for American women but I'm not expecting any presents.  Instead, I'm sure I'll get the same thing I did last year --  the slow yet deliberate whittling away of my ability to make my own health care decisions.

The increasing restrictions on abortion and birth control are well documented.  In April, the Supreme Court upheld a ban on an abortion procedure that has no exception even if a woman's health is in danger. This year, a a federal act eliminated  birth control subsidies, increasing five to tenfold the price of birth control.

Now 27, I grew up taking legal abortion and birth control for granted. Sure, I heard my mother's stories of underground abortions and black market birth control, but to me they were just that , stories. They had the same effect as that urban legend about finding a mouse in your burger – kind of freaky, but outlandish enough that I wasn't actually going to stop eating Big Macs. 
Unfortunately, I'm starting to gather my own versions of what I once would have considered urban legends. Four years ago, my small town Texas friend became pregnant. Her only option was to drive fifteen hours and two states over to an abortion clinic – a clinic that has since closed.  We hear stories of pharmacists in New York state refusing to dispense birth control on "moral" grounds.

A year and a half ago, South Dakota banned abortion entirely. With work by Planned Parenthood and activists across the country the ban was defeated by public referendum, but not by a landslide.

We cannot just rely on a 35-year-old court decision to protect us. Somewhere along the way, we lost control of the debate  about our bodies and our rights .  But it’s not hopeless: as  this election cycle has reminded everyone from the Washington Post to Chris Matthews,  young women can be a powerful political force.  And if we are  important enough to swing a presidential primary, surely we can reclaim the reproductive rights debate.

So on the 35th anniversary of Roe,  let's become that political force to be reckoned with. Tell your New York assembly member to update our state’s law to include protections for women's health and safety. Call your US representatives and ask them to restore birth control subsidies. Volunteer with Planned Parenthood and --  whomever you vote for in the presidential election -- make sure they'll let us make our own health care decisions

This year, let's give ourselves an anniversary present that's worth keeping: the right to choose.

Erica Sackin is a member of the PPNYC Activist Council.