Advocates react to possible overturning of Roe v. Wade

EL PASO, Texas -- Local activists on both sides of the abortion discussion have been weighing in the future of abortion rights for women across the nation. 

Betty Hoover worked at Planned Parenthood Center El Paso for over 20 years. She was also the executive director of the center for 17 years.

She is a strong activist for women’s and reproductive rights. She said she was speechless and felt confused when she learned about the news surrounding the leaked opinion from one of the Supreme Court justices.

She said she worked for years to earn the right for women to have an abortion in the landmark supreme court case of Roe v. Wade. 

If abortion rights are overturned, she said this will create dangerous conditons for women. 

"The Supreme Court can make abortion illegal, but it will never make abortion go away. It will just make it unsafe,” Hoover said.

She said women will instead be forced to find other alternatives. She said women who are in a lower social class won’t have an option and will instead be faced with “unintended and unwanted pregnancies.”

Hoover said women should have the choice to have an abortion - and not have their reproductive health be decided by lawmakers. 

“Young women have the availability and the safety of what they want to do with their bodies,” she said. 

Those who are against abortion are also weighing in. 

Rev. Tom Brown of Word of Life Church was happy to hear the news. 

“I think pro-lifers and I think that all human beings in the end should rejoicing that we as Americans - we believe in the right of an unborn child to live. I think this would be a great move,” Brown said.

He said this is going to make people stop and think deeply about the issue. 

"I believe that a baby has the right to live,” he said.  

Ultimately, he said people of faith will rally for women who go through an unwanted pregnancy.

“We have to be there, and I see no reason why the church and our church will be there for them.”

Bishop Mark Seitz, with the Catholic Diocese of El Paso, said, “Yet the content of the draft has begun to restore in me a hope that was shattered nearly 50 years ago. It moves me to rededicate myself and the Church of El Paso to provide such dedicated care to mothers and fathers who find themselves facing an unexpected pregnancy that they would never feel pressure to seek to end that child’s life.”

Ken Lambrecht, Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas President and sent a message to the women of Texas saying “We are here for you and we are not going anywhere. No politician should ban your ability to make personal medical decisions. Planned Parenthood will never stop advocating for a world where everyone has the information, resources, and autonomy to control their own bodies, lives, and futures.”

The leaked opinion is not a final ruling - meaning abortion continues to be legal.