By Cheryl Sullenger
Atlanta, Georgia — Sadly, Sandra Cano, the “Doe” in the 1973 Doe v. Bolton Supreme Court case, died yesterday at a Georgia hospital after suffering from complications to throat cancer.
“We have lost an irreplaceable voice for truth and justice in America,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “Sandra worked most of her life to expose the lies that were the foundation of ‘Doe’ and undo an unjust decision in which she was an unwilling part. While we are saddened by her loss, we rejoice that her faith has ensured that she is resting now in the loving arms of her Savior.”
At 22 and pregnant with her fourth child, Sandra Cano sought legal assistance from an attorney that she said duped her into thinking her case would center on equal pay for women. Cano never considered an abortion despite her dire circumstances and was at one point forced to flee her home in Georgia for Oklahoma to avoid an abortion that has been scheduled for her by her attorney. She always considered herself an unwilling “pawn” used by the unscrupulous to advance their radical abortion agenda.
“I have tried to understand how it all happened,” Cano wrote in 2005. “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.”
Cano worked to undo the damage caused by the Doe decision, which, in conjunction with the better known Roe v. Wade decision, allowed abortions for nebulously-defined “health” reasons that have permitted abortion on demand for any reason throughout all nine months of pregnancy.
In 2003, Cano filed suit in Georgia, (Cano v. Baker) seeking to overturn Doe v. Bolton due to recent developments in science that shed new light on the humanity of pre-born babies. Unfortunately, the court denied her motion for procedural reasons, not on the merits of her claims. An Appeals Court upheld that ruling and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider it further.
Despite this legal setback, Cano continued to expose the truth that the Doe case was based on a lie.
“The Abortion Cartel in America is founded on deception, exploitation of the vulnerable, and untruth. Sandra knew that first-hand and labored tirelessly to see that this injustice was undone,” said Newman. “Now it is up to those of us who remain to carry on her message until abortion is ended for good.”