CLEVELAND — The Supreme Court’s ruling overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision is not stopping abortion rights advocates from giving up their fight.
“This decision will have rippling effects throughout Ohio and beyond,” said Hannah Servedio, a senior organizer with Pro-Choice Ohio. The group is the leading advocacy organization in the state dedicated to protecting access to abortion care.
Abortion care is currently available in Ohio, and nine clinics across the state still actively provide abortions.
“The clinics are filled with compassionate people who care about you and your well-being, and they’re open and seeing patients every day,” Servedio said.
One such clinic is Preterm in Cleveland, where Evie Dodd volunteers as a clinic escort.
“It’s about health,” she said. “It’s about liberty, pursuits of happiness, very basic civil liberties and rights for people who are able to get pregnant.”
Dodd said escorts are needed at the clinic to help patients avoid protesters outside the property.
“That is where the pro-life movement comes to do what they consider ‘sidewalk counseling’ and we consider ‘sidewalk harassment,” she said.
She’s hopeful the Supreme Court’s decision calls more abortion advocates to action.
“Some folks that thought that the looming threat was always going to remain that, and now are seeing the consequence of us kind of sitting on our laurels, us having this expectation that Roe would always be there for us,” she said.
Dodd said there’s always been a battle for abortion rights, but now isn’t the time to give up the fight.
“It changes the war plan,” she said. “It changes the game a little bit, but we’re still here to play the game.”
Supporters of abortion rights encourage donations to grassroots abortion funds throughout the state, so they can continue to provide assistance to women.
