Bay area anti-abortion activists welcome possible reversal of Roe v. Wade
SAN MATEO (KPIX 5) -- The idea of the Supreme Court reversing its ruling on abortion isn't generally very popular in the Bay Area but there are those who are supporting that decision. After hearing news of the leaked draft decision reversing Roe v. Wade, some of them spoke out on Tuesday.
The battle lines are drawn, but those who would like to restrict abortion think it was a mistake for the court to ever declare it a constitutional right in the first place.
"It looks like the court is finally going to recognize its error in Roe v. Wade," said Mary Rose Short, Outreach Director for California Right To Life. "They just manufactured a supposed right to commit abortion violence when they said it was in the constitution when it never was. So, that is very, very encouraging that they might finally correct that error."
Short said those protesting outside the Supreme Court who are outraged by the idea of states controlling abortion, are actually arguing against democracy."
"The irony is, if Roe is overturned, it returns to the people," she said. "It becomes part of the democratic process again. And so, they're outraged that we would get to vote on it."
Brian Johnstone, Chairman of the California ProLife Council, said Roe was never about women's rights. He said it was about doctors getting permission to perform abortions and he played an audio clip from Ruth Bader Ginsburg acknowledging it.
In it, the late Supreme Court Justice says, "Another feature of Roe is--Roe really isn't about the woman's choice, is it? It's about the doctor's freedom to practice his profession as he thinks best. It wasn't woman-centered...it was physician-centered."
"And radical feminists don't like that, among them Ruth Bader Ginsberg," said Johnston about the Roe decision. "But the fact is, is that it first violated historical guidelines for what doctors should or shouldn't do. It's actually an ethical decision regarding medicine."
Here in the Bay Area, Anna Kramer, Chair of the San Mateo Republican Party, summed up the feelings of a lot of her members.
"For a long time, I think there's just been too much freedom on abortion. I think that's a general consensus," said Kramer. "It really isn't a matter of, well, this is my body, my choice. There is life involved, and I think people have forgotten that. I think people take life too lightly when it's, like, 'Well, I'll just have an abortion.'"
Each of the abortion opponents acknowledged that, no matter what the court decides, it will likely remain legal throughout California. Still, those who would like to see an end to Roe v. Wade think it may be on the horizon. But most are taking a wait-and-see attitude. They know that anything can happen with an issue this highly charged.