Roe v Wade overturned: Rochester opinions vary for pro-life, pro-choice – Democrat & Chronicle
The United States Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was the answer to Mary Jost’s prayers and years of anti-abortion advocacy work.
Jost, the 72-year-old director of Focus Pregnancy Center on University Avenue in Rochester, said that though she did not expect to see this day arrive, she is “ecstatic” that it has.
She said she was in her apartment watching FOX News when the news alert moved. Jost now lives in a post-Roe America.
“I mean, I am so happy. Oh my gosh, yes. Overturned. It’s a wonderful word.”
For Linda Donahue, a lifelong resident of Irondequoit, the official ruling made her feel powerless. A Supreme Court leak that foreshadowed this decision back in May, and she knew the change to reproductive rights was possible. But it still hit her hard once it happened.
Donahue, who is retired from Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations said, she feels a combination of rage and incredulity, alongside dread over what rights the Supreme Court might decide to impact later, such as access to contraceptives, and LGBTQ rights.
“If your argument is about life, we need to give it (life) a better definition. We don’t require people to donate kidneys because that saves a life. If collecting all the AR-15s across the country saves lives, shouldn’t we do that as well? This is an attack on self-determination,” said Donahue.
The ruling returns the issue to individual states. And even though New York’s access to legal abortion is expected to remain, the historic decision is evoking varied reactions of joy or sorrow among women living in the Rochester area.
‘Grateful for this step forward’
Jost’s center, which opened 17 years ago adjacent to Planned Parenthood, offers free pregnancy testing, material support (including clothing), ultrasound referral and referrals for other services.
“We teach and love and support them with anything they need,” said Jost, whose protests against abortion, including outside the Planned Parenthood office, date back to 1986.
She added, “We’re not asking the mother to raise her child; other people will raise her child. We’re just asking her to give birth. You can even pick out the parents of your child. It’s called open adoption.”
Michelle Sterlace, executive director of Rochester-based Feminists Choosing Life of New York, said in a statement that her organization was “grateful for this step forward for women and for life.”
The Court’s ruling found that abortion rights do not exist within the Constitution and are a matter for each state to decide. Sterlace acknowledged that laws already on the books in New York would allow abortions to continue regardless of the Supreme Court ruling today in the case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
“New York State enacted the Reproductive Health Act in anticipation of Roe’s possible overturn, in 2019,” Sterlace explained. “The RHA allows women to abort their unborn children throughout all nine months of pregnancy, for any reason within 24 weeks of pregnancy, and thereafter for ‘health reasons’ broadly applied in New York as including reasons unrelated to the physical life or health of either the pregnant mother or her unborn child.
Despite the Roe reversal, pro-life advocates say more needs to be done
Sterlace said New York remained “hostile to pregnant women, in particular poor pregnant women and families.”
“The idea of reproductive ‘choice’ is nearly non-existent in (New York),” she said. “It’s become practically impossible for poor (New York) women facing unplanned pregnancies to ‘choose’ anything but abortion.”
Carol Crossed helped lead the opposition to a proposed new Planned Parenthood clinic in the town of Brighton as part of BRAVE (Brighton Residents Against Violence). She said the leak of a draft decision in this case in May was likely politically motivated and would be used as fodder for political fundraising from those who support the Roe vs. Wade ruling.
“While I think the leaked draft was spot-on, I am a feminist and a Democrat and many in those political groups support Roe,” Crossed said. “This morning’s e-mails are filled with Democrat candidates who are raising early money for campaigns. These Chicken Littles crying that the sky is falling don’t tell you that abortion rights vs. unborn human beings’ rights will be returned to voters at the state level.”
Will gay marriage be next?
For Zoë Woodruff, a political science student who lives in the Finger Lakes area, the Supreme Court decision has her rethinking her life in the United States.
“With Justice Thomas alluding that gay marriage and contraceptive access being next, there’s a scary feeling that I should be switching majors so that I can move out of the country, if necessary,” said Woodruff.
Associate Justice Clarence Thomas said Friday that the Supreme Court should “reconsider” other rights established by the high court in the wake of its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, including access to contraception and gay marriage.
Thomas’ concurring opinion – which no other member of the court joined – tracks with an argument abortion rights groups had made for months leading up to the court’s blockbuster abortion decision: a ruling that the Constitution doesn’t protect a right to an abortion would jeopardize other rights the court established under the 14th Amendment.
“In future cases, we should reconsider all of this court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell,” Thomas wrote, referring to landmark opinions that blocked states from banning contraception, sex by same-sex couples and gay marriage. ”
Women’s rights advocates prepare for a political fight after Roe v. Wade loss
Despite feeling immense dread, Woodruff believes the ruling could be a wake-up call for people.
“There’s this sense of urgency and hope, we have to do something now, right?” said Woodruff.
Sarah Timmerman, president of the Rochester chapter of the National Organization of Women (NOW), said that the organization is doing everything it can to keep abortion legal in New York State, and also helping people who need one, wherever their ZIP code is.
While Timmerman is devastated by the ruling and the impact it has on patients whose appointments were canceled, she is urging people to go vote in the gubernatorial primary election on Tuesday, June 28.
“Since this is now a state-by-state issue, we have to keep leadership in New York State that supports this,” said Timmerman.
This story includes reporting by John Fritze and Marina Pitofsky from USA TODAY. Additional reporting from NY State reporters Adria R. Walker and Thomas Zambito.
Reporter Marcia Greenwood covers general assignments. Send story tips to mgreenwo@rocheste.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @MarciaGreenwood.
Natalia Rodríguez Medina is a bilingual reporter covering the Puerto Rican and Latino population for the Democrat and Chronicle in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on Twitter at @nataliarodmed or email her at nrodriguezmedina@gannett.com. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America.