Local groups react to leaked SCOTUS draft opinion that suggests Roe v. Wade might be overturned
Swift reactions were coming in from both anti-abortion activists and abortion-rights advocates after Politico first reported on the leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court that discussed overturning Roe v. Wade.
While millions of people across the country plan to head into the streets Tuesday to defend the landmark ruling, protests were held locally in front of the courthouse in downtown LA, as well as another call to action in West Hollywood.
"I'm here today furious," Karen Eyres, president of the Hollywood chapter of the National Organization for Women, said Tuesday.
Eyres said the fight for reproductive rights is a personal one, adding that she got an abortion in the 1980s.
"I was in my 20s," she said. "I got pregnant. I did not want to keep the baby. It would have really destroyed my life."
Eyres was sharing her story among other West Hollywood leaders and community members a day after the leaked draft SCOTUS opinion talked about overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case guaranteeing abortion rights.
Luckie Alexander Fuller, a transgender man, also spoke about what it would mean to the trans community. He had a baby after he was a victim of sexual assault.
"As a trans man, we often get sexually assaulted," Fuller said. "We need to be able to have a choice."
Shannon Morton, the President of Black Women Lead, said if the conservative majority fully overturns Roe v. Wade, it will impact women of color and the poor.
"We are lucky to be here in California, but we aren't lucky if our sisters aren't lucky. If they think that women are going to hell for having an abortion, let's show them what hell is on earth," Morton said.
Those on the other side of the debate, anti-abortion rights advocates, said there is no constitutional right to an abortion and it's time that abortions are decided on a state-by-state basis.
"As a pastor, I don't support that right," said pastor Marc Little. "However, it is a right under the Constitution that is left to the states under the 10th amendment."
Theresa Brennan, the president of the Right to Life League echoed Little's sentiment adding that her belief that life begins in the womb.
"We fundamentally feel that people in the womb are people, like these are actual human beings who are entitled to rights," she said.
Just like in decades past, in downtown LA, abortion-rights advocates continued their call to action.
Right now, the California Legislature has some 20 bills intended to make it an abortion sanctuary state.
Planned Parenthood said if Roe v. Wade is overturned, 26 states across the nation could flat out ban abortions and patients will not be able to access the care they deserve.
"Let's be clear: Abortion is legal. It is still your right," said Planned Parenthood president and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson.