Abortion and women’s rights advocates are planning a rally Tuesday afternoon outside the Newburgh City Court House on Broadway. It is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.
Organizers say the rally is in response to reports that the U.S. Supreme Court has drafted a decision of Roe v. Wade, granting abortion rights.
Multiple news outlets have reported that leaked documents obtained by POLITICO of a draft opinion written by Samuel Alito, Associate Justice., that would overturn Roe v. Wade. The documents indicate five justices would vote to overturn the ruling.
In it, Justice Alito writes “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start” and “we hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled.” Though the decision is not yet final, and abortion remains legal, if this decision is issued, 26 states are poised to move quickly to ban abortion, leaving more than 36 million women of reproductive age — and other people who can become pregnant — without abortion access.
The case of Roe v. Wade dates back to 1973. A seven to two vote in the Supreme Court affirmed the legal rights of a woman, under the 14th Amendment, to have an abortion.
"This is not simply a draft of a devastating and politically motivated Supreme Court opinion, it is a roadmap for dismantling our fundamental right to safe, legal abortion, a right codified nearly FIFTY YEARS AGO, said Joy D. Calloway, Interim President & CEO, Planned Parenthood of Greater New York in a prepared statement “Abortion bans are designed to deny Black, Latinx, Asian and Indigenous people their right to control their bodies and futures. These bans disproportionally harm people with low incomes who cannot afford access to fundamental health care or travel to get it. Abortion bans are the perpetuation of racism, sexism, and economic injustice in a country that has a long history of stripping people of their own personal autonomy. “
In 2019, New York’s pro-reproductive rights legislature passed the Reproductive Health Act, codifying the protections of Roe v. Wade in the state’s constitution. RHA preserves the right to abortion in New York, despite federal or judicial efforts to dismantle Roe v. Wade.
Opponents of the Roe v. Wade decision welcomed the news.
“The New York State Conservative Party has been arguing for nearly 50 years that Roe v. Wade was a bad legal decision,” said New York State Conservative Party Chair Gerard Kassar. “Today’s news leak — which may or may not stand — hints at a long-awaited victory for those of us who respect the rights of the unborn and who never viewed abortion as Constitutionally protected. “We are hopeful that this leaked decision actually comes to pass. It would have a profound impact on how life is valued in every state in the land.”