A look at noteworthy addresses in...

A look at noteworthy addresses in the Southland. Sarah Weddington, the attorney who successfully argued Roe vs. Wade before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973, spoke Wednesday at Claremont McKenna College. From Weddington’s remarks: On Roe v. Wade “I got a notice from the Supreme Court that said we have accepted Roe v. Wade. . . . Until that point my entire legal experience was a few wills for people with no money, divorces for people where it was not contested and one adoption for an uncle.

“There were three key issues in that case. . . . The first was is there a right of privacy in the U.S. Constitution? The second was: Is pregnancy fundamental? The Supreme Court will not usually overturn a state’s statute unless it is something having to do with something very fundamental.

“Our argument was that nothing determines a woman’s future more than the number and spacing of children.

“The third issue was does the state have a compelling reason to regulate? . . . No constitutional right is unlimited . . . rights can be limited when there is a compelling state reason to do so.

“What (the court) said was yes, there is a right of privacy in the U.S. Constitution and it extends to the abortion issue. Pregnancy is fundamental. And the state has not proved a compelling reason to regulate.”

On the Issues Today “That day in 1973, now slightly more than 20 years ago, was a day when in many ways we thought the constitutional issue had been settled. What we would never have foreseen was that 20 years later we were about to lose Roe v. Wade. What will happen now? . . . This is an issue that you are going to have to decide how you stand on and whether you will choose to be involved.

“In this new phase it’s not going to be primarily a courtroom issue, it’s primarily a political issue. How people vote, what they say to their elected officials, that is going to become what is critical.”

“You are the ones who have inherited the rights, but also the responsibilities of a very public, controversial issue.”Looking Ahead Sunday: Noam Chomsky, professor of linguistics at MIT, and Jeff Cohen, executive director of Fairness and Accuracy in Media, will speak on “The Media and the New World Disorder,” at the Fairfax High School Auditorium, 6:30 p.m. Sponsored by the Los Angeles Chapter of FAIR, (310) 281-8630.

Announcements concerning prominent speakers in Los Angeles should be sent to Speaking Up, c/o Times researcher Nona Yates, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA., 90053