Six Things We Can Do: Post Roe by Bridget Mary Meehan

Supporters of Choice were outraged. Pro-Lifers were exhilarated  when they heard the news that the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade today.  

I know that God loves women who have abortions and God loves pregnant women who give birth. God loves people who are Pro-Choice and People who are Pro-Life.

So should we.

Pro-Choice Supporters (Esquire)

Pro-life Supporters (Esquire)

A Call to Action: Six ways we can go forward after Supreme Court overturned  Roe:

First, listen to women's stories about ending a pregnancy- the emotions, the struggles, the reasons.  

Second, support women's autonomy to make moral decisions in all areas of their lives including their reproductive  health and well-being. Catholics doctrine teaches that everyone must follow their conscience in making moral decisions including abortion. The Catholic hierarchy is out of step with this Church teaching and with the Catholic Community.  68% of Catholics support Roe vs. Wade. (Pew August 2020) Different religions have different beliefs and different teachings . Since we are a nation of believers with diverse views, our laws should not violate religious freedom.

Third, find a path forward that supports women's rights, primacy of conscience and the flourishing of all human life including viable human life.

Four, vote for political candidates to who oppose criminalizing abortion, and who support access to free birth control as an effective way to prevent abortions. 

Five, advocate for age-appropriate sex education -with parents’ permission -in schools. Challenge "Don't say Gay" law in Florida. 

Six, support policies, laws, and non-profits that provide prenatal care for mothers and babies from conception to young adulthood, help single mothers as well as struggling families with costs for food, housing, child-care, education, and job training.  

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/06/24/supreme-court-abortion-protests-roe/

"The historic overturning of Roe v. Wade met with an outpouring of joy and rage on Friday, as street demonstrations that began outside the Supreme Court after the decades-old guarantee of abortion access was struck down spread through the nation’s capital and to cities across the United States.

The scene outside the court in the wake of the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization captured Americans’ wildly divergent reactions to a watershed moment in one of the nation’s bitterest debates..

“I can’t believe it’s real,” said Lauren Marlowe, 22, an antiabortion demonstrator who shrieked and embraced her friends when the decision came down. “I just want to hug everyone. … We’re in a post-Roe America now.”

Tanya Matthews, a 26-year-old masters student in anthropology from Charleston, S.C., was on her way to the Library of Congress when she heard about the decision and headed to the Supreme Court. Matthews, who said she had an abortion at 19 and supports abortion rights, was dismayed by the celebratory crowd of antiabortion activists, many of whom were young women.

“It feels like we’re at a Justin Bieber concert,” Matthews said. “They don’t understand the gravity of this decision. Just because it’s not legal doesn’t mean it isn’t going to happen.”

As the day wore on, many of the antiabortion demonstrators left and more supporters of abortion rights began to gather in downtown Washington. Hundreds chanted and held signs outside the Supreme Court, joined at one point by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who promised through a borrowed megaphone that the left would work to restore the rights revoked by the court. "