‘Abortions have existed before Roe and will exist after’
Activists vow to fight on; physician touts greater use of contraception
TEXARKANA, Ark — On Friday, five Supreme Court justices ruled to overturn two landmark decisions that served as the bedrock of abortion rights across the nation — Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
Justice Samuel Alito penned the majority decision, which included justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney-Barrett.
“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 Fourteenth Amendment,” Alito wrote.
The decision effectively leaves it up to states to decide on abortion legislation. However, it triggered immediate bans in a few states, like Arkansas, which is prohibiting all abortions except to save the life of a pregnant person.
The Texarkana Gazette reached out to legal experts and community workers to gain their perspectives on the ruling.
Attorney Jon Beck of Morgan, Cook and Beck said the decision signals a shift in the court’s interpretation of individual rights in relation to the government’s authority.
“The court’s decision upends a 50-year precedent and calls into question other rights that the court has previously held were protected by the substantive due process clause,” Beck said.
“Those rights are generally privacy rights, free association rights, the same-sex relationships in marriage or interracial marriage — all of those are individual rights that the court has previously held or protected under the 14th amendment.”
A few days after the initial announcement flooded news outlets, Kathaleen Pittman, director of Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport, Louisiana, began to work with the Center for Reproductive Rights to protect abortion rights on the state level.
“We just filed for a temporary restraining order against Attorney General of Louisiana Jeff Landry and Louisiana Department of Health Secretary Courtney N. Phillips.”
Hope Medical Group for Women is one of the few clinics in Louisiana that provide abortion services.
The restraining order temporarily blocks Louisiana’s trigger bans from taking effect.
In Texas, the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit in Harris County District Court against Attorney General Ken Paxton, Texas Medical Board, Texas Health and Services Commission and Texas Board of Pharmacy. The lawsuit also names district attorneys for Travis, Bexar, Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Hidalgo and Collin counties.
The lawsuit argues that enforcing Texas’ pre-Roe ban would cause “irreparable injury to Plaintiffs and their physicians, nurses, pharmacists, other staff, and patients, and Plaintiffs respectfully urge the Court to rule with all deliberate speed on the requested relief.”
The court agreed, allowing for abortions up to six weeks to continue at some clinics in Texas.
Dr. Bryan Bowen of Family Medical Group Texarkana advises people in states without abortion services to be proactive with contraception.
“It will limit abortion services in conservative states,” Bowen said. “It will make it more difficult for those without financial means to travel to states that will provide abortion services.”
Kristie Wright, executive director of First Choice Pregnancy Center of Texarkana, said the Supreme Court ruled correctly on Roe and Casey.
“We obviously think it’s rightly decided. It’s very well reasoned; it’s a pretty strong opinion,” Wright said. “We realize there will still be people who will need our services now more than ever.”
Dr. Laura Sikes, a women’s history professor at Texas A&M University-Texarkana, said the burden of the court’s decision will fall disproportionately on poor people and women of color.
“Abortions have existed before Roe and will exist after,” Sikes said. “Regulation makes abortion safe and significantly reduces the number of maternal deaths.”
Sikes said legislative action is key in the fight for reproductive rights.
“I don’t think we’re going to see a Supreme Court reversal on this issue for many years, if not decades,” Sikes said.
Dr. Stacy Leonard, an obstetrics and gynecology specialist with Wadley Regional Medical Center, echoed Sikes’ statement about maternal deaths.
“Given no safe options, there will be young women who take desperate measures, including attempts at self-abortion or even suicide,” Leonard said.
Leonard said being prochoice is not about being pro-abortion.
“I could give countless examples of rape and molestation, babies with severe anomalies, and even cancer treatment that couldn’t be delayed,” Leonard said.
“But the fact is, a woman is not an equal, independent and free individual without having body autonomy. Just as one cannot be legally forced to donate an organ or even blood, even though it would save the life of another, up to the point where a fetus can live outside of the uterus, she should not be legally forced to carry a pregnancy against her will.”