Hundreds gathered at the Chico City Plaza on Friday afternoon, reflecting other protests going on across the country, following the Supreme Court’s early morning announcement.
The supreme court voted Friday to overturn Roe v. Wade, which has stood for almost half a century.
Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973 and provided federal protection for women’s choice to have an abortion or not.
Charles Turner, a political science professor at California State University-Chico, said this decision takes away that protection and leaves it up to the states.
“What changed today is the court said that Roe vs. Wade was wrongly decided,” Turner said. “They overturned that decision and said that, actually, that constitutional right does not exist. So, states can continue making laws, either creating access to, or guaranteeing rights to, or access to abortion procedures, or restrict them, basically, however, much they want. And, they don't have to worry about there being a federal constitutional protected right to abortion.”
One of the immediate changes is there are 13 states, like Texas and Arkansas, that have trigger laws that will ban abortion 30 days after this overturn.
Turner said for California and states with similar laws, we might not see as much change, but it all depends on the states.
“If you live in a state with conservative abortion laws before today that's probably going to continue, and they're going to become even more restrictive,” Turner said. “If you live in a state that has abortion access, like California, then probably that's going to stay the same as well.”
While California has a history of supporting women's reproductive rights, some state leaders, like Doug LaMalfa say this decision is the right step.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision repealing Roe is a win for the right to life, for the unborn, and the constitution,” LaMalfa said in a press release. “ Nearly 50 years ago, a partisan Court created a right to abort a child out of thin air. Overturning Roe does not ban abortion, but rightfully returns the abortion debate back to Congress and State Legislatures.”
Turner mentions one of the big things the US can also expect in the future is this being a major topic in the upcoming midterm elections so regardless of which way you vote now is the time to pay attention to how your elected officials react.
“What we will really see the most of, probably, is this being a very important political issue in the midterm elections, both in state legislatures around the country and in the US House and Senate,” Turner said. “ I think both parties will use this as a way of motivating voters to, you know, come out and vote to make a change in one direction or the other.”
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