Local elected officials, others react to document
If the U.S. Supreme Court follows through on overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide, it would quickly split the country into states with abortion access and those that outlaw it.
The Supreme Court confirmed the leaked draft was an authentic document but said Tuesday “it does not represent a decision by the court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.”
Almost immediately after Politico published the draft Monday night, Republicans who had fostered a decades-long push to end abortion rights cheered the prospect. Democrats vowed to fight the possible loss of a right that has been in place for nearly a half-century.
The announcement sparked a number of different responses from advocacy groups, as well as Kern’s elected officials in Congress and the Legislature.
Kern County’s two representatives in Congress, House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, and Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, both criticized the leak as an attempt to put undue pressure on the Supreme Court in separate statements issued Tuesday.
“I believe every human life is sacred and must be protected. If this draft decision is final, decisions on abortion laws will be returned to the states to decide how they want to handle this issue,” Valadao said via email. “This unprecedented leak out of the Supreme Court is clearly meant to publicly pressure sitting Supreme Court justices, which is deeply concerning for our institutions and must be fully investigated.”
McCarthy referred to it as a “clearly coordinated campaign to intimidate and obstruct” the court in calling for an immediate investigation into the leak.
“House Republicans are committed to upholding the sanctity of life, and we will continue to fight to be a voice for the truly voiceless. There is nothing more special, extraordinary, and worth fighting for than the miracle of life,” McCarthy wrote, adding, “we pray for the resolve of our Justices and for a decision that protects our most basic and precious right, the right to life.”
Cathy Abernathy, a prominent Bakersfield GOP strategist, stated her concern for the breach in protocol for the nation’s highest court, but also noted her agreement with the draft of the new majority opinion.
“The leaking of a Supreme Court draft opinion is serious; however, I agree with this alleged majority opinion that the ... Roe v. Wade decision stepped on states’ rights, specifically the 10th
Amendment, which we all know states clearly that, ‘The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.’”
REACTION IN SACRAMENTO
Gov. Gavin Newsom and top legislative leaders committed to putting an amendment on the November ballot that would “enshrine the right to choose” in California, in comments made after Politico published the draft opinion from the court that revealed a majority of the nine justices want to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that stopped state governments from banning abortion.
If successful, the amendment wouldn’t change much in California, where a majority of lawmakers have repeatedly demonstrated their commitment to keeping abortion legal and accessible. But it would make it much harder for future lawmakers to repeal those protections.
Assemblyman Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield, one of Kern’s two GOP representatives in the Legislature, noted there wasn’t a new legislative proposal to address the issue as of Tuesday morning in a statement emailed to The Californian.
“All human life is sacred and precious,” Fong said. “Giving voice to our most vulnerable is a fundamental conviction.”
Across the aisle, Assemblyman Rudy Salas, D-Bakersfield, didn’t address the legislative proposals that have been discussed since Monday night’s leak, but issued a statement on his stance Tuesday.
“I have always believed that a woman’s reproductive health care decisions are a private matter,” Salas said in an email, “and should be decided by a woman, her doctor and within her religious beliefs.”
Robin Walters, president of the Democratic Women of Kern, said she was not surprised to see the draft of the expected decision by the high court. However, to see language in print is gut-wrenching, she added.
“I could almost cry talking about it,” Walters said in a phone interview. She added she was registered as a Republican in college, but changed her party preference over this very issue.
State Sens. Shannon Grove and
Melissa Hurtado did not immediately respond to requests for comment when reached Tuesday.
‘WORST FEARS’ AND OPTIMISM
Walters recalled a time when women did not have abortion rights, and said any reversal of Roe v. Wade would be devastating to women’s dignity, their bodily autonomy and their humanity. For generations of women, access to abortion has always been the reality, she said.
Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, noted that the access is still a legal right while noting there are national efforts to outlaw the practice. Planned Parenthood Mar Monte operates a center in Bakersfield on 16th Street.
“Let’s be clear: Abortion is legal. It is still your right,” McGill Johnson said. “This leaked opinion is horrifying and unprecedented, and it confirms our worst fears: that the Supreme Court is prepared to end the constitutional right to abortion by overturning Roe v. Wade. While we have seen the writing on the wall for decades, it is no less devastating, and comes just as anti-abortion rights groups unveil their ultimate plan to ban abortion nationwide.”
Erin Rogers, executive director of the Bakersfield Pregnancy Center — a “licensed medical clinic providing free services regarding pregnancy and sexual health decisions” — said the center does not lobby or participate in any political activities, although its stated aim on its website is to “make abortion unnecessary.”
“It does make me optimistic personally, as a pro-life individual, that the court will overturn Roe,” Rogers said, referring to the leaked draft decision. It didn’t come as a surprise, though.
“... I felt that at the very beginning, when the case was being heard, and when I listened to oral arguments, I felt the court’s questions were already pointing toward a decision at least limiting Roe, if not overturning it,” she said.
She also noted that regardless of how one feels about the issue, the reality is it’s unlikely to drastically change the situation for Californians, due to the dynamics that exist in Sacramento.
“(The draft opinion) simply allows legislatures in each state to determine how and when or if they will provide abortion services to women and, of course … they’re going to double-down on expanding abortion rights here in California. So this decision doesn’t change what we’ll be doing in Bakersfield, because we will still be providing services to clients, regardless of the decision that they make regarding their pregnancy.”