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The ultimate victory for the bishops would be to reverse Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that prevents states from banning abortion before the fetus is viable. But even without that prize, women's choice advocates said the effect the bishops have had on reproductive choice in the U.S. has already been noticeable.
"Women have fewer abortion rights today than we had three or four years ago," O'Neill said. "We are so grateful for our friends in Congress who stopped the Stupak amendment, but ultimately we did see an anti-abortion provision go into health care law, and in 2011 alone we had more than 100 anti-abortion laws signed into law at a state level, which is unprecedented."
O'Neill finds it troubling that a group of men that has historically denied women the opportunity to participate in leadership positions is exercising so much power over such a broad range of women's reproductive health legislation.
"Clearly there's a problem when men take such an interest in the sexual function of women," she said. "There's something deeply off about it."
So much is deeply off about these men. So very much. I can barely express the loathing I have for them.