WASHINGTONVILLE – After word spread that it does look like Roe v. Wade will be overturned by the US Supreme Court, thus erasing what many say is their “right to choose” whether to have an abortion, protests started popping up across the country and in Orange County as well.
About a dozen residents showed up in front of the office of State Assemblyman Colin Schmitt (R, New Windsor). They held placards saying, ” We will not go back,” “Protect Women’s Rights.” “Next they will outlaw gay marriage.” and chanted ”
Another rally followed later in the day in Newburgh.
The Washingtonville group, along with many others, emphasized that this is all the more reason that Republicans running for office, including Schmitt who is running for Congress, must be voted out to protect “women’s rights.”
They added that taking away a woman’s right to choose is emblematic of his and other Republicans’ efforts to take away individual freedoms, and that it will cause havoc when states decide whether to shut down local abortion clinics, which will result with many women travelling from state to state.
The ruling is not yet official and there is likely a very gray area where a woman’s life is at risk or the unborn baby’s life is likely not sustainable.
“While we must await the court’s final decision, it is unfortunate that New York Democrats have already cast aside the opposition shared by the vast majority of New Yorkers when they legalized late-term abortion up to the moment of birth and allowed non-doctors to perform abortions,” Schmitt said in a statement. “As a state assemblyman, I voted against this law, while (Congressman) Sean Patrick Maloney celebrated its passage.”
Schmitt is challenging Maloney for New York’s 18th District House seat this fall.
