Michelle Casey saw this day coming, but she says that doesn’t make it any easier.
“I’m completely devastated and it really feels like a real gut punch,” Casey said Friday.
Planned Parenthood of Central and Western NY reacts to Supreme Court decision (video)
Casey is the CEO of Planned Parenthood of Central and Western New York. She’s processing the fact that the United States Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, meaning individual states can now ban abortion.
“Women and people who become pregnant are officially second-class citizens and we’ve entered into an Orwellian time where people can be forced to give birth,” Casey said.
Feminists Choosing Life of New York celebrate Roe v. Wade decision
But for others, like Rachel Grande and Michele Sterlace-Accorsi at Feminists Choosing Life of New York, it’s a day to celebrate.
“It’s amazing,” Grande said. “I’m just really happy. I know there’s a lot of arguments that it’s anti-feminist but I don’t know it just feels like it’s putting the power back in women’s hands.”
RELATED: Henrietta Town Board votes to deny permit for new Planned Parenthood facility
“It is incredibly empowering,” Sterlace-Accorsi said. “It’s empowering for women and feminists because it’s tell us we don’t need to kill our offspring in order to be equal.”
This comes a month after a Supreme Court draft opinion was leaked to the public. The decision is the result of a decades-long effort by abortion opponents.
“For so long the pro-life feminist movement has been educating and trying to make it clear that abortion is a tool of the patriarchy and that abortion presses women rather than empowers women,” Sterlace-Accorsi said.
Planned Parenthood of Central and Western NY working to welcome patients from out of state
Roe V. Wade has been in place for almost 50 years, and Casey says, her organization has been preparing to make sure they have enough open appointment slots for current patients and patients who may travel from out of state.
“It’s not fair to women that it depends on which state their in whether they can have have access to the full-range of reproductive services even things like IUDs it’s just unconscionable that this is where we are,” Casey said.
Rebecca is a veteran multimedia journalist serving as one of our core reporters in the Finger Lakes region. She is responsible for telling stories that matter to every day Upstate New Yorkers. Have a question or lead? Send it to [email protected].