In her book A Question of Choice, where she gives an account of arguing Roe Vs. Wade, Sarah Weddington describes the pro-life movement’s string of victories after Roe was decided, and how the pro-choice movement diminished in power:
“… Generally our energy and contributions sagged, and we seemed only to plod forward. We were forever trying to increase NARAL membership, raise the funds necessary to keep the organization afloat, respond to press requests, and maintain and build our public support… The opposition was fighting a battle of attrition, keeping the pressure on in so many different arenas hoping that eventually our resources would collapse, and in fact that was happening.…
We began to lose on matters of access. The opposition mustered the votes and passed measures that denied government funding for almost all Medicaid recipients, even though the government would then provide prenatal and delivery services at greater cost to those same women. Antiabortionists lobbied and passed measures to cut off insurance funding for abortion for federal employees, and made it almost impossible for people in the military and their dependents to obtain abortions. Even when we could collect the votes to defeat one of their anti-funding measures, the opponents of abortion would roar right back with another.”
Sarah Weddington A Question of Choice (New York: The Feminist Press, 2013 ed.) 199 – 200
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