Attorney talks about leadership, Roe v. Wade

Sarah Weddington, the winning lawyer in the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case in 1973, was the innagural speaker yesterday in a Leadership Lecture Series sponsored by the School of Nursing. In an announcement made before Weddington's speech, former School of Nursing Dean Claire Fagin was named by the school as the first Leadership professor, a new honorary title. Weddington spoke to a crowd of several hundred at Irvine Auditorium. She served for three terms in the Texas House of Representatives starting in 1972, and was instrumental in reforming Texas rape statutes, passing equal credit bills for women, and establishing a pregnancy leave bill for teachers, Fagin said. Weddington later served in the White House under President Jimmy Carter, where she worked on getting women appointed to priority government positions. Weddington's speech, entitled "Leadership Imperative, Personal Challenge," examined why so few women hold significant leadership positions in the U.S., and offered ways to continually increase the number who do. "Women have always been leaders, in the home, in the community, in the church, in civic organzizations," she said. "It's just that very seldom did they have the leadership title." Weddington said this was due to a history of social attitudes that said that women couldn't be leaders. She referred to an old physical education teacher of hers who once told her, "You must guard your reproductive capacity. That is your meal ticket." "Part of the reason there were so few women leaders is because they weren't expected to be, and we didn't expect ourselves to be," Weddington said. She said practicing leadership is extremely important, adding that most leaders in society tend to have been leaders in their college and high school years, and that people need to consider themselves "leaders in training" during these years. "[People should ask themselves] 'What can I do today which will give me more options in five years?' " she said. "You don't have to know what you'll be a leader in -- life will teach you that." A 25-minute question and answer session followed the 40-minute speech. Audience members asked Weddington questions regarding the current status of women and government, and regarding her new book entitled A Question of Choice. When asked what she would tell the Supreme Court today about Roe v. Wade, she replied, "I don't think anyone could tell the Supreme Court anything today." Weddington then blasted President George Bush for his "gag rule" proposition. She said this suggests that doctors could talk to women about abortions but nurses couldn't. Response to the speech was very positive. "I came because I heard that she was entertaining as well as a competent person," said Nursing School alumna Elaine Dobbins. "These issues for women are real, [especially] the reminder of practicing leadership by stepping out and taking a chance." "[The speech was] wonderful and exactly the kind of message we all need to hear more often," said Kate Judge, Director of Development and Alumni Relations at the Nursing School. "I can't imagine a finer person to innagurate the Series."