Wave Staff Report
WEST HOLLYWOOD — City officials have responded in advance of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the validity of Roe V. Wade, the landmark court ruling in 1973 that legalized abortion.
An online media report released May 2 said that a draft opinion of a court ruling, written by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., would be approved by a majority of the court, overturning Roe v. Wade.
The draft opinion also reportedly repudiates the 1992 decision Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
“The city of West Hollywood, the first city to go on record as being pro-choice, is committed to protecting women’s reproductive rights,” Mayor Lauren Meister said in a statement issued May 3. “We cannot go backwards. It is up to our representatives in Congress, with our support, to make women’s right to choose the law of the land.”
In 1993, West Hollywood was the first city in the nation to declare itself pro-choice. Almost three decades later, the city continues its efforts to vigorously defend women’s reproductive rights and access to health care.
“It’s a dark day in America,” Mayor Pro Tem Sepi Shyne said in the city statement. “The warnings that we all received about the presidency of Donald Trump are cascading down into reality against women – all women.
“The effects of overturning Roe v. Wade and Casey would be overwhelmingly negative,” Shyne added. “In California — especially in West Hollywood — we have the privilege of being able to access safe and legal reproductive health services. But, we are all at risk. We are all in danger.
“We must, and we will, fight and fight and fight. We won’t stop until our president and our Congress take action to put women and girls and transgender men and reproductive rights first.”
“The news about this draft opinion is reflective of a Supreme Court that was appointed to do one thing: overturn Roe v. Wade,” City Councilman John M. Erickson added. “The news underscores what advocates have been saying: that we must act now to be prepared for the end of the right to abortion in this country.
“This news is terrifying,” Erickson continued. “It is a wake-up call for millions of people who thought the U.S. Supreme Court would protect them from this dangerous direction and, more importantly, from the scarier decisions yet to come for countless people. The time to act is now: stand up, fight back, and vote like your life depends on it, because it just might.”
“In the city of West Hollywood, we have developed a plan to ensure that comprehensive reproductive health services, including safe access to abortion, are available for people in our city,” City Councilwoman Lindsey Horvath said. “I will stand strong with our community and service providers like Planned Parenthood Los Angeles to fight like hell against life-threatening forced pregnancies and to ensure women’s rights and safety are protected.”
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the authenticity of the draft ruling May 3, and condemned its leak to Politico.
Politico noted that the document is only a draft and could be changed dramatically, or even fundamentally changed, before it is published and finalized this summer.
