LEADERS SPEAK OUT IN SUPPORT OF ROE VS. WADE
Miessner: 'This is an attack on anybody different'
Vallejo City Councilmember Katy Miessner brought an ironing board to Friday afternoon's press conference at City Hall but it had nothing to do with her clothes.
It had to do with her rights. Miessner joined community leaders U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, Councilmember Pippin Dew, Solano County Supervisor Monica Brown, Benicia City Councilmember Christina Strawbridge, Solano County Office of Education Trustee Dana Dean and others to show their support for Roe vs. Wade.
The press conference came just a few weeks after a leaked Supreme Court opinion pointed to the overturning of the 1973 landmark decision ruling that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.
“This represents a college student in a dorm getting an abortion on an ironing board,” Miessner said, while often fighting back tears. “In the `80s in Boston, I used to go to MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) stations with the ironing board with my friends and colleagues to support the right for abortion. It was under assault then and it's been under assault ever since Roe vs. Wade passed.
“This is really against anyone who is outside the sort of norm 1950s nuclear family,” Miessner continued. “This is an attack on anybody different. We're fortunate to have Mike Thompson and Gavin Newsom here in California, but other states don't and we need to think of them.”
On May 2, Politico obtained a leaked initial draft majority opinion penned by Justice Samuel Alito indicating that the Su
preme Court is prepared to overturn Roe — a ruling expected by the end of June. A press release from Chief Justice John Roberts the following day confirmed the authenticity of the leaked document, but stated that the draft “does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.”
A week later Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a Reproductive Health Package to expand access to vital services and welcome companies from anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ states.
“California will not stand idly by as extremists roll back our basic constitutional rights,” said Newsom in a press release. “We're going to fight like hell, making sure that all women — not just those in California — know that this state continues to recognize and protect their fundamental rights.”
The governor's Reproductive Health Package includes $125 million to further bolster California's health care infrastructure, expand access to services for patients, and help prepare for the influx of people seeking reproductive health care from other states.
It was a day filled with emotion for each of Friday's speakers.
“I'm angry, I'm so angry, I'm so angry!” said Brown, her voice rising with each use of the word “angry.” “This is an attack on women and it is an attack on poor women … one woman, and I hate to even say there are women that are anti-choice, she said, `If you're raped or if you have incest you can have an abortion but you have to declare the crime. Well, what if it's your dad? How are you going to declare that a crime?”
Thompson said that abortion is a decision that belongs to a woman along with her doctor, family and faith.
“We believe that abortion should be legal, safe and rare,” Thompson said. “This leaked Supreme Court document, if enacted into law, would be tragic and would end 50 years of precedent of law under Roe vs. Wade. There are Republicans across the country that stand ready to pass legislation that would make measures even stricter than what we are talking about now. They want to charge women with murder for accessing their constitutional rights. We are here to say today that that is wrong and that we will do anything possible to make sure Roe vs. Wade remains the law of the land.”