Reproductive and Sexual Freedom in the 1980s

The inclusion of issues of reproductive and sexual freedom in this symposium is itself a sign of great progress. The civil liberties agenda which, until the last decade, was largely focused on first amendment issues, has grown substantially. This is because the movements of the last several decades-civil rights, black power, feminist, anti-war, Native American, lesbian and gay, anti-nuclear, and others-have broadened our understanding of the meaning of repression. In 1960, for example, there was only a hardy band of progressive civil libertarians working on the idea that a woman's right to contraception and abortion is fundamental to her liberty.' Today that right exists and is under serious attack.

Today we discuss such matters at symposia on civil liberties.