Locals react to Roe v. Wade draft decision leak

KENNETT SQUARE » News broke Monday that the Supreme Court may overturn Roe v. Wade.

Chester County residents were well aware of the breaking news by Tuesday morning after a Supreme Court draft opinion had been leaked to the press.

“I am very much in favor of no late-term abortions except in extreme cases,” said John Thomas of Kennett Square.

“Roe v. Wade is very controversial and I wouldn’t mind if it was turned over (to the states) and even a better system being worked out,” Thomas said.

“I am very much against abortion because it is taking a life,” said Father Scott Brockson of Assumption BVM in West Grove, a Catholic parish of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

He cited the Fifth Command

ment: “Thou shall not kill.”

“And Genesis, that God created human beings and He is the creator,” Brockson said.

“If you’re talking about taking an innocent life, it cannot be approved,” the reverend said.

Brockson said that human life should be protected.

“Based on reason — you don’t even need religion to understand that,” he said.

“It is one of those issues that has always been used to divide,” said Elizabeth Moro of Chadds Ford. She is the author of the “Civil Graces.”

“This is just one of those issues that they wave every time we come near an election,” she said. “It’s a cycle to get people rallied one way or the other.”

Further, violence in this country, the lack of good health care, liveable wage injustice — “I can think of 20 other issues that instead should be addressed,” she said. She supports the almost 50-yearold ruling.

“If you let government in on this part of your life — they will never stop,” Moro said.

Abortion should be rare, she said, citing President Barack Obama.

What are they doing to address the quality of life once the child is here? she asked.

What could we truly be doing that would make life wonderful in America? Moro said. “The majority of Americans support a woman’s right to choose.”

“It’s unfortunate. I think that a woman should have the right to choose what she does with her own body,” said Chester County resident Jake Chalfin of West Marlborough Township.

“I wouldn’t want anyone to tell me how to treat my own body,” he said. “I don’t think it’s fair for me to tell other people what to do with their bodies.”

“This draft opinion demonstrates how vitally important it is that we elect Democrats up and down the ballot to protect a woman’s right to choose here in Pennsylvania, in state capitols across the nation, and to stop Mitch McConnell from ever being a majority leader again,” said Charlotte Valyo, chairperson of the Chester County Democratic Committee.

“Unfortunately, I am not surprised that Justices hand selected by the extreme right wing are now moving to overturn 50 years of precedent,” said Valyo on Tuesday.

A decision to overrule Roe would lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states and could have huge ramifications for this year’s elections, as previously reported. Still, it’s unclear if the draft represents the court’s final word on the matter — opinions often change in ways big and small in the drafting process.

Pennsylvania’s Primary Election Day is May 17.

If the 1973 ruling were to be overturned, that action by the federal government, via the Supreme Court, would put millions of the nation’s “most disadvantaged women at risk,” Valyo said.

Politico broke the story Monday night at 5 p.m. EST. A draft opinion suggests the U.S. Supreme Court could be poised to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide.

“The leak of an apparent draft of a judicial decision from the Supreme Court is an egregious breach of confidentiality and harmful to our judicial system. I trust the perpetrator will be identified and punished to the fullest extent possible,” said. Dr. Gordon Eck, chairman of the Republican Committee of Chester County.

“There the morality of abortion can be debated and decided by its citizens and the representatives they elect,” Eck said. “I, for one, stand with protecting the most innocent of human life.”

“After nearly 50 years and the loss of over 62 million precious lives, there is hope that the era of Roe v. Wade may be coming to an end,” Eck said.

Chester County local Ross Kershey is a teacher. He’s nearly 90 and at the point of retirement. He’s taught here in the region for nearly six decades, including at Coatesville Area Senior High School.

“I think it will be a stateby-state decision — and will not be overturned — but that’s strictly an opinion,” Kershey said. “I don’t know rather with the conservative nature of the Court now, if that would be the case or not.”