The Women's Law Association & The Family Law Society hosted a special 
panel celebrating the 34th Anniversary the historic Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision on Monday, January 22, 2007 in the Courtyard Building.
The event featured a three-speaker panel: TJSL Professor of Constitutional Law, Kenneth J. Vandevelde; Director of Communications for Planned Parenthood of San Diego & Riverside Counties, Vince Hall; and San Diego Public Defender, Susan Clemens.
Hall, who is a Thomas Jefferson student as well as a Planned Parenthood official, noted that the Roe v. Wade decision is based on the constitutional principle of privacy. He’s also concerned that if the decision is overturned, then medical decisions could be replaced with decisions based on ideology.
Sue Clemens, also a Thomas Jefferson graduate and the vice-president of the San Diego ACLU chapter, talked about the late Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, and how he used his background as counsel to the famed Mayo Clinic to help him understand the medical issues involved in the majority opinion he authored.
Constitutional Law Professor Kenneth Vandevelde gave the audience a detailed history and background on the Roe v. Wade case – which has held up for 34 years – but was and is one of the most highly controversial cases the Supreme Court has ever handled.