Roe Versus Wade: 40th Anniversary

1/22/2013 (Updated 10:27:26 PM)

Tuesday marks the 40th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision which made abortion legal in the U.S., and the debate continues.

According to Planned Parenthood, illegal abortions made up 20 percent of all pregnancy-related deaths.

Since the Roe vs. Wade decision, fewer than three-tenths of one percent of women undergoing legal abortions suffer a serious complications.

But abortion opponents, including the catholic church, see Tuesday's anniversary as a tragic day.

"The church sees this as an incredible tragedy in our country. 55 million babies don't have a chance to be born so that's an immense tragedy in the eyes of the church," said Pastor Ed Blaine of the St. James Church in Johnson City.

"Abortion is a deeply personal and complex topic that is between a woman and her family, and her partner, and her medical provider, and her faith. And we don't want to see politicians interfering with what should be a woman's private decision," said Ingrid Husisian of Planned Parenthood of South Central New York.

Blaine says the church should continue to work with women on options they have if they carry a pregnancy to term.

Husissian says one in three women will have an abortion before age 45, although the rate has decreased since the 1990s because of increased access to contraception.