Thirty-one years after the Supreme Court handed down a verdict in Roe v. Wade, the debate still rages.

The issue will continue to be contested by ISU students and professors during “Roe v. Wade: An Intergenerational Conversation” that will be held at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Sun Room in the Memorial Union.

Featured speakers will be Jill June, president of Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa, and Krista Jacob, founder and editor in chief of the magazine “Sexing the Political: A Journal of Third Wave Feminists on Sexuality.”

Kathi Di Nicola, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa, said the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade has had a lasting impact on American society, opening the door for women to make their own reproductive choices.

However, opponents have issued a strong backlash against that guarantee of choice for women, Di Nicola said.

“There is a war on women regarding reproductive choice,” she said.

Dan Rajewski, president of ISU Students for Life, said he believes reproductive freedom given to women through the ruling is damaging. The decision did impact U.S. culture, but it created a society in which violence is more acceptable, Rajewski said.

“Abortion is a violent act,” he said. “The fertility between a man and woman has been violated. The right to choose creates a destructive power in marital relationships.”

Rajewski said humans were given a specific plan by God.

“If we are willing to follow that plan, we can lead a life free of the trials that those who disrespect the sanctity of life must endure,” he said.

Di Nicola said she disagrees.

Prior to the Supreme Court’s controversial 1973 ruling, she said, Planned Parenthood was very limited in its ability to assist women. Di Nicola said she contends the ruling allowed Planned Parenthood “to provide women a full range of choices.”

Cara Harris, senior in liberal studies, said she agrees with Di Nicola’s sentiments. She said she feels the court decision “empowered all women.”

Di Nicola said options available for women today are so ingrained into American society that she said she feels they are taken for granted by many women.

Without the Supreme Court’s decision, Di Nicola said, women may not have been able to stand up for their beliefs as easily.

June’s stand to protect the privacy of Planned Parenthood patients’ records earned her one of Ms. Magazine’s “Women of the Year” honors. June argued the records of women who visited a Storm Lake Planned Parenthood clinic should not be subject to subpoenas in a case involving an abandoned baby found dead in Storm Lake.

June has also been named to numerous committees and Iowa task forces.

Jacob has a long history with women’s issues as well. After five years of research, she wrote “Our Choices, Our Lives: Unapologetic Writings on Abortion.” She currently works as a writer, speaker and reproductive health counselor.