ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) — On October 27, Amy Coney Barrett swore-in to become the newest Supreme Court Justice. The country has seen a growing concern—especially in organizations such as Planned Parenthood.
“We’ve seen it in her advocacy work and in sign-on and in other areas where she’s said abortion is immoral,” said Pascale Bernard, Vice President for Planned Parenthood of Greater New York Action Fund. “I do think we have cause for concern. It’s not just about abortion. It’s about contraception, about IVF, about care for the LGBTQ+ community, Civil rights; a slew of things.”
However, one attorney said that overturning a long-standing case—such as Roe v. Wade—is not as simple as many think.
“When people say they’re worried about Roe v. Wade being overturned, that’s a very rational fear in a personal setting,” said Matthew Buzzetti, Attorney at Buzzetti Law. “In a legal setting, you have to look at, ‘How do they do that?’ They can’t just go and say, ‘Yeah, the Supreme Court way back when messed it up and we’re going to overturn it.’ They can’t do that.”
Buzzetti said the courts need an actual case in order to make a new ruling. He said an overturn could but shouldn’t happen.
“That thing we did three or four years ago, yeah, that’s no longer valid. It can’t happen like that,” Buzzetti said. “It’s not supposed to—not saying that it can’t. It shouldn’t, but it could. That’s why there’s very big worry.”
Back in 2019, New York State legislators passed the Reproductive Health Act. This act protects someone’s right to have an abortion, even if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
“We think abortion is health care and people across the country should have access to it,” Bernard said. “And so our advocacy will continue and we will continue to fight to make sure everyone has access to safe, legal abortion.”