Driven by shock and anger over the potential fall of Roe v. Wade, a couple of hundred people turned out in Montclair for an abortion rights rally, one of many that erupted around the nation Tuesday after someone leaked a U.S. Supreme Court draft majority opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion. Women who had marched for the right to choose a half century ago resolved to do it all over again. “I had to do something, because when you have this much anger in you, you just can’t sit still, you have to do something,” said Ridgewood resident Joann Alvarez Webb.
New Jersey law codifies the right to an abortion. In a post-Roe landscape, hundreds of thousands of patients from across the nation could seek health care in other states, including New Jersey. Health care providers like the Cherry Hill Women’s Center predict that could stretch resources. The New Jersey Abortion Access Fund reported a boost in donations in the aftermath of the leaked draft decision.
“Never in all of these years have I been so afraid for our patients and their access to health care,” said Roslyn Rogers, Collins, president and CEO at Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey.
