Testimony
United States Senate
Committee on the Judiciary
The Consequences of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton
June 23, 2005

 
Testimony of Sandra Cano the Former Doe of Doe v, Bolton, before the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the Senate Judiciary Committee June 23, 2005

The Doe v. Bolton Supreme Court decision bears my name. I am Sandra Cano, the former ''Doe'' of Doe v. Bolton. Doe v. Bolton is the companion case to Roe v. Wade. Using my name and life, Doe v. Bolton falsely created the health exception that led to abortion on demand and partial birth abortion. How it got there is still pretty much a mystery to me. I only sought legal assistance to get a divorce from my husband and to get my children from foster care. I was very vulnerable: poor and pregnant with my fourth child, but abortion never crossed my mind. Although it apparently was utmost in the mind of the attorney from whom I sought help. At one point during the legal proceedings, it was necessary for me to flee to Oklahoma to avoid the pressure being applied to have the abortion scheduled for me by this same attorney.
 
Please understand even though I have lived what many would consider an unstable life and overcome many devastating circumstances, at NO TIME did I ever have an abortion. l did not seek an abortion nor do I believe in abortion. Yet my name and life is now forever linked with the slaughter of 40-50 million babies.
 
I have tried to understand how it all happened. How did my divorce and child custody case become the basis by which bloody murder is done on infants thriving in the wombs of their mothers? How can cunning, wicked lawyers use an uneducated, defenseless pregnant woman to twist the American court system in such a fraudulent way? Doe has been a nightmare.
 
Over the last 32 years, I have become a prisoner of the case. It took me until 1988 to get my records unsealed in order for me to try and find the answer to those questions and to join in the movement to stop abortion in America. When pro abortion advocates found out about my efforts, my car was vandalized on one occasion and at another time, someone shot at me while I was on my front porch holding my grandbaby.
 
I am angry. I feel like my name, life, and identity have been stolen and put on this case without my knowledge and against my wishes. How dare they use my name and my life this way!
 
One of the Justices of the Supreme Court said during oral argument in my case "What does it matter if she is real or not." Well I am real and it does matter.