The City of Dallas, like much of the rest of the United States, finds itself split over the possibility of the repeal of Roe v. Wade. On Tuesday, both pro-abortion and anti-abortion activists rallied to voice their opinions after a Supreme Court document relating to the nearly 50-year-old case was leaked on Monday.
The document, a drafted majority opinion, suggested the Supreme Court may overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision of 1973, which held that the United States Constitution protects a pregnant woman’s right to have an abortion.
“It is our body, our choice, and it seems odd to me that there are people out there who feel like they can make that decision for us when they’ve never had to live in our bodies in this world,” said pro-abortion advocate Sacha Casciato.
Pro-abortion organizations such as Planned Parenthood and Lilith Fund gathered in Downtown Dallas as anti-abortion activists stood praying outside the remaining abortion clinics in the city.
Planned Parenthood Action Fund, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and EMILY’s List stated on Monday that they will spend $150 million on the 2022 midterm elections “to ensure the election of reproductive freedom champions.”
The money will go toward voter outreach, advertising, mobilization, polling, and other attempts to elect leaders “from state legislatures to “up and down the ballot, from state legislatures, to [attorneys general] and governors, to U.S. congressional races.”
Texas Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne also voiced her opinion on the issue, saying that overturning Roe. v. Wade would allow the Supreme Court to correct the wrong that was constitutionally allowed 50 years ago. She further explained that the repeal would return power to the state legislatures.
POLITICO, a political news organization, was first to publish the SCOTUS initial majority-opinion draft, which pertained to the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case that is currently before the Supreme Court.
The news outlet obtained the document via an unnamed source familiar with the case’s proceedings and other data that verify the document’s legitimacy.
If the court’s final decision follows the initial draft, it will end nearly five decades of federal protection of abortion as a constitutional right, allowing individual states to decide whether to restrict or allow the procedure.