Ocala reacts to Roe v. Wade overturn: Some elated, others 'devastated' over abortion ruling
Danielle JohnsonSeveral weeks after a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization suggested the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the court has officially eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion as a result of a 6-3 ruling published Friday morning.
The official opinion states that “the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and (Planned Parenthood v.) Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.”
The decision has left mixed feelings in Ocala, where Marion County’s last abortion clinic closed in 2016.
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Power to restrict abortions will return to states
“Praise God,” Marie Giddings, head of North Central Florida Right to Life, said Friday morning upon learning the news.
Giddings, whose work spans Marion, Lake, Sumter and Alachua counties, repeated that the ruling was “wonderful.”
The overturning of Roe v. Wade, originally decided in 1973, eliminates the constitutional right to an abortion and leaves the decision up to the states, about half of which are expected to ban abortion, and many have trigger laws that will go into effect immediately or soon.
“I'm very happy that it's being returned to the states because that is where it needs to be so that people have a more direct involvement in choosing laws or making laws in their state concerning life, either pro-life or pro-choice,” Giddings said. “When it's on the state level, we have more power individually."
Pam Escarcega, president of the National Organization for Women in Greater Marion County, said she felt numb upon hearing the news.
She believes it will be “pandemonium” now that it is left to the states, and that people will travel to other states – or worse – for abortions.
“Women get desperate enough. They do things that are possibly dangerous to their health. That's what worries me,” she said. “Rich people are always going to have an option and it's the poor people that are going to be left to desperate actions.”
Advocates on both sides foresee Florida strengthening abortion laws
In April, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Taking effect July 1, the new law includes exceptions if a person’s health is threatened by the pregnancy or the fetus has a fatal abnormality.
It does not make exceptions for pregnancies from rape, incest or human trafficking.
With state governments controlling abortion laws, the door is open to an outright ban or at least stricter abortion laws in Florida.
“I will be encouraging our Florida Right to Life leadership to pursue (stricter laws),” Giddings said. “Absolutely, yes. That's where my heart is.”
Because Florida legislators voted along party lines, she says it’s important to keep electing anti-abortion leaders and keep them in the majority.
“There is more to be done in Florida, and what I'm also seeing though is that we continue as a pro-life movement,” Giddings said. “People all across America need to work hard again to purposefully elect pro-life legislators in each of their states.”
She says part of their work is also educating people on abortion facts and making resources available, including in instances of rape or other scenarios that may lead one to seek an abortion.
On the other hand, Democratic Women’s Club President Francine Julius Edwards fears exactly what Giddings hopes for: that Florida laws will become even stricter.
She was devastated and dumbfounded to learn about Friday's ruling. She didn’t think she would live to see the day Roe v. Wade was overturned.
“I just don't understand. I don't understand how women are not treated equally, do not have body autonomy. I just don't get the disconnect,” Julius Edwards said, also noting the issue of privacy and criminalizing pregnant women.
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She says they have to keep fighting even though Florida skews toward senior communities.
"We still have Florida families that should be protected, that should be able to have life and liberty and safety, and this does not help,” she said. “It's a rude awakening, and Republicans talk so much about freedom. This is the lack of freedom. This is anything but freedom.”
Escarcega says the ruling does not reflect the opinion of the majority of people in the United States. Even with Marion County and Florida skewing red, she says many people support choice when it comes to abortions, and hundreds attended a “Bans Off our Bodies” rally last month.
A recent Pew Research Center survey found 19% of U.S. adults believe abortion should be legal in all cases. Another 42% believe it should be legal in most cases or legal in all cases other than a few exceptions. Only 8% said it should be illegal in all cases without exceptions. Another 29% said it should be illegal in most cases or illegal in all cases with a few exceptions.
Gallup polling shows 32% of Americans believe abortion should be legal under any circumstances, 48% believe it should be legal under certain circumstances and 19% believe it should be illegal in all circumstances.
“If we can mobilize those people and speak out and fight for changing this, I mean, that's what we've got to do,” Escarcega said.
Julius Edwards also noted passing the baton to younger people, saying old men should not be making decisions about young women’s bodies.
“We’ve got to fight for our equality no matter what, but it’s starting to feel like the end of 1960s again,” she said. “It really is.”
Contact reporter Danielle Johnson at djohnson@gannett.com.