(KGTV) — “Abortion is still legal, people can still access the care they need all across the country," shares Jessica Pinckney. "And I think this just gives us more resolve to continue fighting.”
Medical professionals and those in favor of abortion rights say they knew this day was coming, yet hold strong to the belief in a woman's right to her choice.
“The decision in Roe v. Wade has always been the floor, not the ceiling. A right is only really a right if you can access the care that the right says you have," explains Pinckney.
Pinckney is the Executive Director of ACCESS Reproductive Justice. The organization helps people find access to care and pay for abortions and surrounding services. She believes if Roe v. Wade were to be overturned, it would impact our state.
“Folks in states where abortion could be banned outright are not just going to stop having abortions they need. They are going to travel to other states where it is still legal and available," she states.
Dr. Toni Marengo, the Chief Medical Officer at Planned Parenthood Pacific Southwest branch, believes that without this piece of legislation there will be chaos.
“It just makes delivering high-quality healthcare, more difficult," she states. "When you hear things like this is going to harm women, this is going backward in time, these are reverse protections, all of those things are true."
It is why the OB-GYN with over 20 years of experience, working in the military and in San Diego, says Roe v. Wade is what provides vital abortion access and protections.
“When a female body patient comes into my clinic for care, what I realize right away is that we don’t walk in their shoes, and we don’t understand all of the nuance around their choice. We don’t realize the amount of patients who say ‘I really want this pregnancy and yet I can’t because’ or ‘I never wanted to be pregnant and this happened to me because,'" she furthers.
Dr. Marengo continues, "When you try to create laws and restrictions against abortion, against family planning you are hurting that other person's choice and bodily autonomy.”
Those in the field, say they hold strong to the belief that a woman's choice is her's and her's alone. Pinckney hopes that others can see that too, “The reason this matters is because people deserve to make decisions about if, when, and how they create their families. This is an issue of bodily autonomy, and issue of humanity quite frankly.”
“People like to say things like ‘It should be rare.’ Well, it should be what it should be. It should be a decision between a patient and their physician and their medical provider," says Dr. Marengo.
"A patient may need an abortion for a variety of reasons. They don’t need to be stigmatized, they don’t need to be regulated, we need to trust health care professionals and the patients who need that care," she furthers.
