Reaction: Lawmakers, activists weigh in on SCOTUS decision to overturn Roe v. Wade

Throughout the day, Savannah Morning News reporters will be collecting reactions to the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Please check back throughout the day for updates.

In one of only two decisions announced earlier today by the Supreme Court, Americans no longer have a constitutional right to abortion, a decision that overturns nearly 50 years of precedent established by Roe v. Wade.

Associate Justice Samuel Alito wrote the court's 6-3 majority opinion, stating, "It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives."

Savannah-area lawmakers, faith leaders and activists awaiting the opinion offer their reactions to the decision and about taking the fight to the state.

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What elected officials had to say

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp

“Today's landmark ruling is a historic victory for life. I look forward to its impact on the legal proceeding surrounding Georgia's LIFE Act, and hope our law will be fully implemented and ultimately protect countless unborn lives here in the Peach State. Working closely with the General Assembly, we have made significant strides to stand for life at all stages -from adoption and foster care reform, to combatting human trafficking and passing the heartbeat bill — and we will continue that important work in the days and months to come.”

Democratic candidate for governor Stacey Abrams

“As the next Governor of Georgia, I will fight each day to defend the right to choose and veto any legislation that further restricts abortion rights. I will work to ensure equity in access and family planning, increase availability of Plan B and emergency contraception, expand Medicaid to support low income women, and invest in critical maternal health care to reduce the maternal and infant death rates in Georgia. And I will work with the legislature to reverse the draconian law that will now rule our state.

"I want to lead One Georgia — a state where women have the right to choose, control their bodies and not have their rights stripped away. This callous decision proves once again that Georgians cannot afford four more years of a governor who puts his personal politics ahead of Georgians.”

Senator John Ossoff

In a prepared statement released Friday afternoon, Sen. John Ossoff said:

“With its decision in Dobbs, the Court has stripped American women of autonomy over their most personal health care decisions.

“The Court has given license to prosecute and imprison women for making the intensely personal decision to end a pregnancy — even when their health is at risk, even in the first hours or weeks after conception, and even when pregnancy results from rape — and to prosecute doctors and nurses whose private relationships with their patients have been protected by Roe v. Wade for half a century.

“Under Georgia’s HB481, the Court’s decision means Georgia women and medical providers could face prosecution for ending a pregnancy as early as six weeks after conception – before many women even know they are pregnant. This decision also creates risk of investigation and prosecution for women who miscarry and will force some women seeking access to abortion toward unsafe, unqualified alternatives that put their lives at risk.

“The Court’s reasoning imperils other longstanding precedents upon which Americans rely for privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties — including precedents that establish rights to contraception and to interracial and same-sex marriage.

“Here is the inescapable fact: the Justices’ determination to demolish these long-established protections means our only defenses are at the ballot box, in our state legislatures, and in the Congress — where I will continue to fight for the principles of Roe v. Wade and the privacy of women’s health care.”

Senator Raphael Warnock

Moments after the decision, Georgia Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock released a written statement that read, in part:

Republican Senate Candidate Herschel Walker

“This Supreme Court decision sends the issue of abortion back to the states, which is where it belongs," Herschel said. "I stand for life and Raphael Warnock stands for abortion, including the heinous practice of partial-birth and late-term abortion. I won’t apologize for erring on the side of life, especially considering the radical abortion views held by Senator Warnock and today’s Democrat party.”

Republican 1st Congressional District incumbent Rep. Buddy Carter

“Millions of children have been silent victims of a decades-long siege on their right to life. The heartbeats heard in ultrasound appointments have now been heard by the Supreme Court, and we finally have a nation that honors the humanity of unborn children,” said Carter. “We followed the science, and it led us to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that life begins at conception. The same unborn children that can feel pain in the womb will one day feel immense joy knowing that their life was valued from day one.”

Democratic 1st Congressional District candidate Wade Herring

“The Supreme Court made the wrong decision to overturn well-established law based on the fundamental right of privacy. I trust women to make healthcare choices about their bodies. Reproductive rights are healthcare rights. Now that the Supreme Court has reversed Roe v. Wade, Congress must act to restore reproductive rights. When elected, I will fight for federal legislation to ensure women's right to choose. I am the only candidate for Congress in Georgia’s 1st District who trusts women to make their own healthcare decisions. Elections matter, and your vote makes a difference."

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson

Johnson was out of the country when the decision came down Thursday morning, attending a conference in Germany on domestic terrorism.

“I’m absolutely disappointed, but not surprised. I believe that one of the fundamental cores of American society is the right of choice, and I think that our country suffered a major blow today. Even here in Germany, people are watching this with some deep interest."

House 164 Rep. Edna Jackson

"This is one of the worst things in history for women. A decision of that magnitude should be made by the woman who is involved and not by the Supreme Court. Even though people have their own opinion, and I have mine, it is a personal thing, within a family or an individual. I feel it will set women back a number of years. But we must continue to fight to make the decisions that we want, not have them made by others."

House 164 Rep. Ron Stephens

“The Heartbeat Bill we passed in Georgia is now law,” Stephens said, although he did not vote for the bill when it came up, as he was with his daughter who was in the hospital at the time.

“It leaves it up to the states now, which is really the way it ought to be… We don’t have to worry about challenges and courts and all that other stuff now. It is now law, so our law will stand, irregardless,” Stephens said. “It’s a victory for most of us that believe life is sacred.”

House 166 Rep. Jesse Petrea

"What the Supreme Court has done is left this to the states to determine and regulate. I'm not surprised, and certainly pleased that we're going to recognize, as we should always, the value of life."

More: 5 things to know for Georgia after Roe v. Wade overturned

Planned Parenthood Southeast response

The knowledge that the opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade was coming didn’t make the decision any less harder, said Vivienne Kerley-de la Cruz, campaigns director for Planned Parenthood Southeast, which is headquartered in Atlanta and operates a health clinic in Savannah.

“Knowing this was coming didn't make the moment any less devastating. It's something that we've been preparing for, for months. But make no mistake, this decision does go far beyond abortion, and the ruling is about who has power over our bodies, and goes against the will of the people,” she said. “The majority of people in Georgia, nearly 70%, oppose overturning Roe. This decision is as dangerous as it is shocking.”

Planned Parenthood Southeast has already challenged the state bill that would outlaw abortions after six weeks, known as the Fetal Heartbeat Bill. The bill was ruled constitutional by a judge, the ruling for which is awaiting to be formally released so the bill can be signed into law by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. R. Kerley-de la Cruz said the rapidity with which Kemp and the attorney general have moved to get the bill signed is “frightening.”

And just because abortions are outlawed, does not mean they will stop. Historical data indicates somewhere between 200,000 and 1.2 million illegal abortions took place in America during the 1950s, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Illegal abortions accounted for about 18% of pregnancy deaths in American women, the institute reported.

“Folks will continue to seek access to abortion, and we will continue to fight to ensure that can happen within the systems of a safe healthcare system,” Kerley-de la Cruz said. “We already know that maternal mortality rate in the state of Georgia is one of the highest in the nation, particularly so for Black mothers. And it's really concerning what this could mean for a health care system that is already overwhelmed.”

Georgia is the most dangerous state in the country for pregnant women, according to the University of Georgia, with the maternal mortality rate at 66 deaths out of 100,000 people. That’s nearly 40 points higher than the national average of 29 deaths per 100,000. Black women are the most impacted of any other demographic, particularly in Georgia, where the death rate for pregnant mothers is twice that of white women.

“We know that, generally speaking, a wealthy woman will always have access to see some legal abortion in this state, and around the country, really. And so this is going to disproportionately affect those who don't have these connections… or privileges,” Kerley-de la Cruz said.

She reemphasized Planned Parenthood’s mission to serve women and men. “No matter what the state of play is, we're in this fight. Our doors are open. We are still providing care in Georgia. If you need access to abortion care — and you can still get it — you can call one of our health centers, you can go online and make an appointment. We are here for you.”

What locals had to say

Coco Papy, reproductive rights activist

Savannah’s Reproductive Freedom for All group has planned a nonviolent protest at Johnson Square on Friday at 5 p.m.

Coco Papy, event coordinator, emphasized that the protest is a space for people's “grief and rage and anger."

“This is a very long fight,” Papy said. “That they have overturned this settled precedent means that they have a green light to overturn many other settled precedents that simply do not align with six people's religious values or political ideologies. Six people have made a decision for a country that has overwhelmingly expressed support for the legal protections of Roe. That is shameful.”

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What faith leaders had to say

Roman Catholic Diocese

In a statement responding to the SCOTUS ruling, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah voiced its continued “commitment to protecting and preserving the life of every human being from the moment of conception to natural death.”

The Diocese voiced its support for Georgia’s six-week “Heartbeat Bill” currently blocked in a lower court, which will be ruled on by the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Appeals.

“While we are encouraged by the Supreme Court’s decision overruling Roe and Casey, our commitment to building a culture of life continues,” said Most Reverend Stephen D. Parkes, Bishop of Savannah.

About 22 pregnancy centers are available throughout the Diocese. Women facing an unplanned pregnancy can come to the Catholic Church as well, said Parkes.

Rev. Lolita Hickman

Lolita Hickman, Rev. Pastor of Trinity Baptist Church was visiting a sick neighbor this morning and came home to the news flashing across her TV screen.

“We knew it would happen, but I still can’t believe it,” said Hickman.

As a Christian pastor, she’s aware that many people of evangelical faith hold pro-life views, but Hickman said she’s one whose perspective is “more complicated than that.” Now, with the constitutional right to abortion overturned, about half of U.S. states will move to further restrict abortion access. Hickman said she’s terrified for the abortion seekers who will be harmed by a six week ban that Georgia is likely to impose.

“I probably found out I was pregnant at six weeks … that’s probably when a lot of people realize when they’re pregnant,” said Hickman, “I don’t think legal abortion will stop and that’s the scary part.”

Rev. Susan Karlson

Rev. Susan Karlson of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Savannah viewed the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade as “ironic”. Karlson was drawing a connection between another Supreme Court ruling on Thursday that struck down a century-old New York law that limited guns in public.

“You’re going to uplift an individual’s right to carry guns and deny an individual’s right to bodily autonomy?” Karlson asked incredulously. “The moral implications of that are just huge and heavy.”

As pastor of a church that has traditionally supported the right to an abortion, Karlson believes that the SCOTUS decision is a “disenfranchisement of our rights.”

“What the Supreme Court is doing, in my estimation as a religious leader, is just immoral and contradictory,” she said. “I feel concerned for the people directly impacted by this.”

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah-area lawmakers activists react to SCOTUS abortion decision