Disappointment, elation in Schuylkill County to Roe v. Wade reversal

Jun. 25—Reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade on Friday was strong on both sides of the abortion debate in Schuylkill County.

"This is horrifying for women everywhere," Schuylkill Haven resident Lisa Hollenbach, president of the Schuylkill County Democratic Women's League, said of the 6-3 ruling handed down earlier in the day.

State Rep. Tim Twardzik, R-123, Butler Twp., agreed with Justice Samuel Alito's majority opinion in the case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which he said reaffirmed that "the right to abortion was wrong" the day the landmark case was decided in 1973.

A demonstration against the decision is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday in front of the Schuylkill County Courthouse in Pottsville.

The decision overturned Roe as well as Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 case that affirmed the right to abortion.

Restricting women's rights

Hollenbach said while she anticipated the ruling, she said it is "disheartening and disappointing," and would particularly impact women who are poor, live in rural areas or are minorities.

"We should be ashamed of ourselves giving our daughters less rights than before," she said.

Schuylkill Indivisible Co-Chair Lisa Von Ahn said while she was hopeful the court would uphold Roe following the leak of Alito's draft opinion last month, she was disheartened that "we are going so far backwards."

"This is just one more step to take women's rights — and other crucial civil rights — back at least 100 years," she said. "The ruling sends a message that women are incubators and nothing more, that their health, privacy and well-being do not count against a clump of cells."

Schuylkill County Democratic Committee Chairman Todd Zimmerman said "no one should be allowed to tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her body."

Hollenbach said the right people need to be elected in the state to preserve the rights of women in Pennsylvania.

Planned Parenthood Keystone CEO Melissa Reed said the organization would fight "tooth and nail" against banning abortion in Pennsylvania.

"There's never been a more critical time to support abortion rights," she said.

Reed emphasized abortion is still "safe and legal" in the state, but she anticipates an increase in women coming from out of state, particularly neighboring Ohio and West Virginia, which have "trigger laws" banning abortion, to get one while abortions remain legal in Pennsylvania.

'Flawed' decision

Twardzik, who attended a pro-life rally in front of the state Capitol building in the fall, likes that the ruling will bring the decision on abortion back to the states.

"It's where legislators who represent the people make law, as opposed to judges," he said.

There is action on the state level to restrict access to abortion. State Sen. Judy Ward, R-30, Frankstown Twp., introduced Senate Bill 956, which would amend the state's constitution to limit access to abortions, in December.

Bishop Alfred Schlert of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown commended the court's six conservative justices for their "courageous willingness to reexamine the right to terminate a life."

"The past half century has consisted of dark days of human and judicial error that manipulated the Constitution to allow humans to play the role of the Creator and the arbiter of who deserves to live," he said in a statement.

In a statement Friday, Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation Legislative Director Maria Gallagher said Roe was a "deeply flawed" decision that "has now been tossed into the ash bin of history."

Howard Merrick, chairman of the Schuylkill County Republican Committee, said he wanted to read the opinion first before reacting to it.

Contact the writer: clee@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6028; @Cleespot on Twitter