Local reactions to overturning Roe v Wade

 
By Catholic News Agency 
and The Catholic Free Press
 
WASHINGTON, D.C (CNA) – The Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade in a historic decision released Friday that brings an end to nearly a half-century of nationwide legalized abortion in the United States. 
The regulation of abortion now reverts to the states. Massachusetts is one of the states that already has passed laws to allow unrestricted access to abortion.
The opinion, in the Mississippi abortion case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, not only overturns Roe, the landmark 1973 abortion case, but also Casey v. Planned Parenthood, a 1992 decision that affirmed Roe.
"Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority," the opinion states. "We now overrule these decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives."
The decision does not ban or criminalize abortion, nor does it recognize an unborn child's constitutional right to life. But the court’s action sweeps away legal barriers that for decades have blocked states like Mississippi from restricting or prohibiting the killing of unborn children in the womb. 
Worcester’s Bishop McManus said in a statement, “As Christians we must respond with charity in support of the life of the child in the womb whose dignity deserves our respect and legal protection, to the mother who is afraid, alone or whose life may be in jeopardy, and with respect for all citizens who struggle with this most divisive issue in our country and our world.”
Rejoicing about the decision and calling for continued prayer and work, Allison LeDoux, director of the Worcester Diocese’s Respect Life Office and Office of Marriage and Family, gave credit to God, the Blessed Mother and persistent defenders of life.
“We give praise and thanks to God that justice has prevailed, and Roe v. Wade has been overturned by the Supreme Court today,” she told The Catholic Free Press June 24. “God’s timing has blessed us to receive this good news on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and during Religious Freedom Week. We are reminded too … as we celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary tomorrow, that the Blessed Mother promised, ‘My Immaculate Heart will triumph.’”
Protesters were outside the court when the ruling came down, as they have been for days, anticipating it. The court's 213-page ruling was not totally unexpected due to the leak of an opinion draft a month earlier. Although activists on both sides of the abortion issue have been raising their voices outside the court, as of midday June 24 were no reports of violence in response to the ruling.
 
“As Christians we cannot react with violence and hatred toward those with whom we disagree. Only the virtue of charity can vanquish evil,” Bishop McManus said.
The Supreme Court opinion was written by Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett joined the opinion. Chief Justice John Roberts filed an opinion concurring in the judgment. 
The majority decision said, "Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have inflamed debate and deepened division. It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives." 
Associate justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan dissented. They wrote a joint dissent that said: "Whatever the exact scope of the coming laws, one result of today's decision is certain: the curtailment of women's rights, and of their status as free and equal citizens."
They also noted that their dissent was made "with sorrow -- for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection."
 
U.S. Catholic bishops who have supported a reversal of Roe immediately reacted positively to the court's decision that comes at the end of this year's term.
“America was founded on the truth that all men and women are created equal, with God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This truth was grievously denied by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling, which legalized and normalized the taking of innocent human life. We thank God today that the Court has now overturned this decision. We pray that our elected officials will now enact laws and policies that promote and protect the most vulnerable among us,” Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities said in a statement.
The statement also said: “Now is the time to begin the work of building a post-Roe America. It is a time for healing wounds and repairing social divisions; it is a time for reasoned reflection and civil dialogue, and for coming together to build a society and economy that supports marriages and families, and where every woman has the support and resources she needs to bring her child into this world in love.
“As religious leaders, we pledge ourselves to continue our service to God’s great plan of love for the human person, and to work with our fellow citizens to fulfill America’s promise to guarantee the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all people.”
Cardinal Seán O’Malley of the Archdiocese of Boston said, “I welcome the Court’s decision, but I do not underestimate how profoundly divisive the issue of abortion has been and will continue to be in our public life. Even more tragic has been the personal suffering of women facing unplanned pregnancies in difficult situations. The Church has consistently opposed the moral and legal dimensions of Roe v. Wade; we also adamantly reject stigmatizing, criminalizing, judging or shaming women who have had abortions or are considering them.”
The decision ushers in a new era of abortion politics that will be carried out in state legislatures. 
“It is my hope that this new chapter may be a time of a different tone and focus in our civic life,” Cardinal O’Malley said noting the need for civility in discourse.
At least half of the states plan to ban or restrict abortions with this decision in place. Massachusetts has already done so and today Gov. Charlie Baker signed an executive order to further protect access to abortion services.
“In light of the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v Wade, it is especially important to ensure that Massachusetts providers can continue to provide reproductive health care services without concern that the laws of other states may be used to interfere with those services or sanction them for providing services that are lawful in the Commonwealth,” the order says.

Several other states have imposed laws that would criminalize providing abortions and other reproductive health services, and this executive order would protect providers who perform these services for out of state individuals as well as individuals from out of state who seek services that are lawful in Massachusetts, a release from the governor’s office explained.
The order prohibits any Executive Department agencies from assisting another state’s investigation into a person or entity for receiving or delivering reproductive health services that are legal in Massachusetts. The order also protects Massachusetts providers who deliver reproductive health care services from losing their professional licenses or receiving other professional discipline based on potential out of state charges, the release said.

Mrs. LeDoux lamented the availability of abortion in Massachusetts and called for continued prayer and work.
“While today’s ruling will trigger pro-life laws in many of the states in our nation and will undoubtedly save many lives, Massachusetts, tragically, already has unrestricted abortion laws in place,” she said. 
“It will be important to continue to make known the care and support that is available to women in crisis pregnancies that has been ongoing for decades, as well as the compassion the Church has for those who have suffered the pain of a past abortion.” She spoke of the Church’s ministry of Project Rachel, which “offers safe and confidential help to those who are seeking healing” from the painful experience of abortion.
Andrew Beckwith, president and general counsel for the Massachusetts Family Institute, said he is grateful for all those who never stopped fighting for the lives of the unborn.
In a statement he said: “A child conceived in Massachusetts should have the same right to be born as a child conceived in Mississippi. Tragically, the whole apparatus of state government in Massachusetts is aligned against the unborn and aligned with Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry. Abortion up to the point of infanticide is still legal in Massachusetts. In fact, the pro-abortion legislature is already working to make Boston a hub for abortions by encouraging people to come from states where there are pro-life laws to kill their babies in Massachusetts. It’s despicable.”
“Today is a new day in Massachusetts. It seems clear that, nationally, there is tremendous momentum, and we look forward to a reenergized fight to restore a culture of life to the Commonwealth.”
Bishop McManus noted that states must now “decide whether abortion will be legal, limited, or illegal within their borders.” He asked: “Will we be known to the world as a group of states defined by being either pro-life or pro-death? Or, will we acknowledge someday that a country whose foundational principle is freedom and justice for all cannot exclude the most vulnerable, a child in the womb?”
 
•    Information from Catholic News Service was used in this report.
PHOTO: 

WASHINGTON ROE V. WADE

Pro-life demonstrators in Washington celebrate outside the Supreme Court June 24, 2022, as the court overruled the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision. (CNS photo | Evelyn Hockstein, Reuters)