Officials see Roe decision as setback for women's rights

Jun. 25—South Windsor Mayor Elizabeth Pendleton finds it infuriating that women can enlist in the military and put their life on the line for this country, but cannot make decisions about their own bodies.

Needless to say, Pendleton said, it's shocking to her that in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the U.S. Supreme Court justices voted Friday to effectively overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

Abortion reaction

Manchester Mayor Jay Moran: "Yesterday we celebrated 50 years of Title IX's equal opportunity for women. Today, we went back 50 years."

South Windsor Mayor Elizabeth Pendleton: "If I'm willing to die for my country, I have the intelligence and freedom to make decisions about my own body."

Rep. Jaime Foster, D-Ellington: "It feels like a decision that was made around talking points that don't align with the actual situation."

Janee Weber, executive director of Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund: "We are deeply angered and we are outraged, even though we expected his day would be coming,"

Amanda Skinner, CEO and president of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England: "We will continue to do everything in our power to provide a full range of health services to anyone who has been denied them."

The rulings mean abortion policy will now be determined at the state level rather than federally.

"When I was 18, I joined the Air Force in honor of my brother, who died while fighting in Vietnam," she said. As a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Pendleton said, she has 27 veterans in her family who "have been fighting for the country since Day One."

If she was able to carry a weapon as heavy as her male counterparts, Pendleton said, she can certainly make decision about her own body.

"When did we become less important than men?" she asked. "When does a woman become stupid enough to not make a decision about her own body and need the Supreme Court to tell me what to do with it?"

Pendleton said it's a fundamental right of every human being to seek whatever medical care they determine, with their doctors, to be necessary.

"If I'm willing to die for my country, I have the intelligence and freedom to make decisions about my own body," she said.

A number of elected officials joined Pendleton in opposition to the Supreme Court's decision, which is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states.

"Yesterday we celebrated 50 years of Title IX's equal opportunity for women," Manchester Mayor Jay Moran said Friday, referring to the federal law that prohibits gender-based discrimination in any education program that receives federal funding. "Today, we went back 50 years."

Rep. Jaime Foster, D-Ellington, said the Supreme Court's decision lacks nuance and sophistication.

"It feels like a decision that was made around talking points that don't align with the actual situation," she said.

She said the consequences will be extremely upsetting, pointing out that 6 out of 10 unintended pregnancies end in induced abortion.

"I find it very concerning that the Supreme Court made a decision that is grossly incongruous with every medical society with relevant expertise," she said.

'We are outraged'

Many state residents said on Friday that they are grateful that Connecticut had the foresight to enact Public Act 22-19, a first-in-the-nation law that will protect medical providers and patients seeking abortion care who may be traveling from other states that have outlawed abortion.

The law also expands the type of medical providers who provide reproductive health care consistent with their training.

However, many women from other parts of the country will still be left without options.

This decision will disproportionately affect the poor, indigenous, and women of color, said Janee Weber, executive director of Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund. The fund is a statewide, nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering women, girls, and their families to achieve equal opportunities in their personal and professional lives.

"We are deeply angered and we are outraged, even though we expected this day would be coming," she said during a press conference via Zoom on Friday. "Today's decision is a violation of our human rights."

Ending constitutional protections for abortions will have numerous consequences, not just for women, but their families and communities, Weber said.

"We will continue to fight to protect our rights. If we want to be a country where all are equal, then we need the United States to be a place where abortion is safe from all barriers."

Amanda Skinner, CEO and president of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, said during the press conference that the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has undone nearly 50 years of legal precedent.

"We are outraged," she said. "We are devastated."

Planned Parenthood's help centers in Connecticut are open, Skinner said.

"We will continue to do everything in our power to provide a full range of health services to anyone who has been denied them."

Planned Parenthood has already seen patients traveling from Texas to seek legal abortions in Connecticut, Skinner said.

"We have every reason to believe, as bans are passed around the country, this will continue."

Skinner said it's devastating to think that where someone lives will affect their basic human right for medical care.

"We are working furiously with our colleagues across the country to make sure we have as seamless a system as possible for people to have a positive and safe experience with us," Skinner said. "We will expand the pool of clinicians to have a sufficient number to meet the demands that will come."

A safe harbor

Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said it is time that other states step up and do the same as Connecticut did to protect their women, and stop letting anti-abortion rhetoric dismantle decades of progress.

"Gov. Ned Lamont and I want women across the country to know that Connecticut is a safe harbor, we will provide reproductive care to any woman who needs it, and we will protect the medical providers who provide that necessary care," she said in a statement.

"Today is a dark and devastating day for women across this nation," Bysiewicz said. "This ruling demolishes almost a half-century of settled law ensuring women's reproductive freedom, and the right to have an abortion is an integral part of a women's reproductive freedom."

"Today's Supreme Court ruling has absolutely no impact on Connecticut residents," Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski wrote on Twitter Friday. "I will continue to support Connecticut's state law, which has codified a woman's right to choose, with an appropriate ban on late-term abortion."

For more coverage of Somers and Enfield, follow Susan Danseyar on Twitter: @susandanseyar, Facebook: Susan Danseyar, reporter.