Advocacy groups: Striking down Roe v. Wade impacts more than women's rights

Andrea Miller, president of the National Institute for Reproductive Health, says certain groups like domestic violence and victims of rape would be left more vulnerable if the country's abortion rights were overturned.

News 12 Staff

May 4, 2022, 12:12 AM

Updated 950 days ago

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Local advocacy groups say the Supreme Court's draft opinion to potentially strike down Roe v. Wade impacts more than women's rights.
A leaked draft opinion by the Supreme Court states that the landmark case that legalized abortion could be overturned as early as next month. The historic case from 1973 legalized abortions nationwide.
Andrea Miller, president of the National Institute for Reproductive Health, says certain groups like domestic violence and victims of rape would be left more vulnerable if the country's abortion rights were overturned.
"It's important to know who's going be in the most harm. It's going to be community of color, it's going to be Black, Latina, indigenous, Asian Pacific Islander. It's going to be people struggling to make ends meet," says Miller.
Margaret Groarke, a political science professor at Manhattan College, explains what it would mean if Roe v. Wade were to be overturned.
"So, people understand what the decision would mean, it would mean the national government and the Supreme Court no longer say that states have to permit abortion in any circumstances so states would be free to completely ban abortion or have whatever restrictions they want on abortion," says Groarke.
Groarke says New York, New Jersey and Connecticut currently have laws in place to protect a woman's right to choose even if abortion was abolished.
The New York state Catholic Conference weighed in on the issue releasing a statement saying, "While we fervently pray for legal protections of unborn children, we will not dignify the goals of the leaker by commenting on the contents of the draft document."
The court is expected to make a ruling before its term ends in late June or early July.