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M O N D AY, J U N E 27- J U LY 03, 2022
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Landmark Roe v. Wade ruling overturned BY CERVANTÉ POPE
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n a tendentious — yet expected — turn of events, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade Friday morning in a 6-3 decision, ending 50 years of the constitutional right to abortion in the United States. While off the books from a federal sense, the reversal returns the power to the individual states for the first time since 1973. More than half of the states in the country are slated to restrict or fully outlaw their abortion laws, with 13 of those — including Idaho, Nevada and Missouri — holding trigger laws that will go into effect immediately. ‘They Simply Took It Away’ California will remain a safe haven for women seeking abortions and reproductive services, as will Oregon and Washington. “It’s not hyperbole to say it’s a very solemn moment,” President Joe Biden said in his press conference Friday. “They didn’t limit it, they simply took it away. It’s a sad day for the country in my opinion, but it doesn’t mean the fight is over.” Biden opines; sharing sentiments similar to Rep.
Crowds gathered outside the Pasadena Superior Court in May in support of access to abortion. | Photo by Terry Miller / Hey SoCal
Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, who called the decision a betrayal of the commitments made by recently appointed justices who, under oath, swore to keep their promises. “It is a repudiation of
some of our nation’s most cherished values, from the right to privacy to the right of everyone to make their own health care decisions,” Schiff said in a statement. “The fact that this opinion does not come as a surprise
does not make it any less traumatic for the millions of women now stripped of their access to safe and legal abortion; it does not make it any less frightening for the millions of people now worried about whether their
fundamental freedoms will be the next to fall.” John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett were the justices in favor of the overturn, while Elena
Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Stephen Breyer were those against. Conservative Justices: Abortion Not A Constitutional Right The 213-page opinion from the majority, written by Justice Samuel Alito, harkens the leaked Supreme Court opinion and continues an attempt to reinforce the narrative that abortion rights are not inherently a part of the Constitution, thusly not protected by anything but a decision he and others have sought to overturn for decades. “The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely — the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment,” writes Alito. In their dissent, Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan posited that “The same could be said, though, of most of the rights the majority claims it is not tampering with. The majority could write just as
See Roe v. Wade Page 6
Gov. Newsom joins Oregon, Washington in pact to ensure abortion access BY CITY NEWS SERVICE
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ov. Gavin Newsom joined his counterparts from Oregon and Washington Friday to proclaim the states as safe havens for women seeking reproductive health care following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of federal abortion protections under Roe v. Wade. “California has banded together with Oregon and Washington to stand up for women, and to protect
access to reproductive health care,” Newsom said in a statement. “We will not sit on the sidelines and allow patients who seek reproductive care in our states or the doctors that provide that care to be intimidated with criminal prosecution. We refuse to go back and we will fight like hell to protect our rights and our values.” Newsom, along with Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee issued a Multi-State
Commitment to defending access to abortion, contraceptives and other reproductive health care, and to protect doctors and patients “against efforts by other states to export their abortion bans to our states.” “The Supreme Court has made it clear -- they want to strip women of their liberty and let Republican states replace it with mandated birth because the right to choose an abortion is not
`deeply rooted in history,”’ Newsom said. “They want to turn back the clock to a time when women had no right to make decisions about their own bodies, when women had to seek care in the shadows and at great danger when women were not treated as equal citizens under the law. This is another devastating step toward erasing the rights and liberties Americans have fought for on battlefields, in courthouses and in capitals.”
Gov. Newsom, center, and other state leaders pledge protection for women seeking abortion. | Office of the Governor of California.
In a statement of her own, Brown said, “You cannot ban abortion, you can only ban safe abortions.” “And this disgraceful
Supreme Court decision will undoubtedly put many
See Newsom Page 6