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Friday, June 24, 2022

Community / Courts / Government / Medical / Health

Local Protests Planned in Wake of Roe Ruling, Area Representatives Weigh in

Posted By Kimberly Wear @kimberly_wear on Fri, Jun 24, 2022 at 1:11 PM

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Dozens who turned out to support reproductive health at the courthouse on at a rally earlier this year after a draft of today's opinion was leaked. - PHOTO BY MARK MCKENNA

Photo by Mark McKenna
Dozens who turned out to support reproductive health at the courthouse on at a rally earlier this year after a draft of today's opinion was leaked.

Two local rallies are planned in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark ruling that instilled the legal right to abortion, which remains protected in California.

A community protest will take place at 5 p.m. today at the Humboldt County Courthouse and another is scheduled for Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., on the Arcata Plaza.

A statement on tonight's rally from Planned Parenthood Northern California states the decision threatens "the right to safe and accessible abortion for millions of people nationwide" and will result "in over half our country’s states moving to wipe out abortion access."

"This would disproportionately harm people who already face systemic discrimination and have limited health care access," the statement reads. "With Roe v. Wade overturned, 26 states have promised to quickly move to ban abortion. Some of these states will move to restrict, ban and/or criminalize abortion immediately. The U. S Supreme Court may have failed to protect our rights, but we are not without power to fight back."

Local representatives also weighed in on ruling that sets aside nearly 50 years of what had been considered settled legal precedent based in the fundamental right to privacy.

“The extreme, out of touch, right-wing Supreme Court has overturned the constitutional right to abortion, tearing apart decades of legal precedent. A cascade of dire consequences and restrictions will now sweep across the country, falling hardest on those who already face the most barriers to care: Black and Brown women, folks who can’t afford care, young people and LGBTQ people, and women suffering domestic violence are now all at the highest risk. This radical conservative court – put into power largely by presidents who lost the popular vote – have now stripped away the freedoms of millions of people in America, putting their health care decisions in the hands of politicians,” North Coast Congressmember Jared Huffman said in a statement.

“This ruling doesn’t change the fact that abortions are health care, and countless women will still need to access it," he added. "In California, our rights are still protected – and we will continue to protect and expand access to abortion so no one is denied the care they need. I will keep fighting in Washington to protect abortion providers, restore the right to reproductive health care, and safeguard the many other rights won based on Roe v. Wade that are now in danger under this abhorrent Supreme Court.”

State Assemblymember Jim Wood also weighed in.

“Today is a very dark day in America. A day when we should be celebrating our constitutional protections of privacy and a woman’s right to choose is clouded by a Supreme Court decision that eviscerates that federal protection and tragically opens up the possibility that other rights will be challenged in the future," he said in a statement. "California will continue to protect those rights and will support oppressed women in other states if they need our help to make their own health care decisions.”