BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Local advocates brought their voices to the state Capitol after Roe v. Wade is again taking center stage.
A leaked draft opinion suggests the U.S. Supreme Court could be poised to overturn the federal law allowing abortions. Pro-choice advocates are hosting a call to action at the state Capitol Tuesday afternoon.
“Black and brown women will be disproportionately affected if it were to happen,” said Julie Buckner, an attendee at the call to action.
While there is no final word on the case, advocates on both sides wait for what’s next.
“Quite frankly, it’s horrific to think the right to abortion and Roe v. Wade will be completely overturned,” said Jessie Frankel from the Louisiana Coalition for Reproductive Freedom.
“My initial reaction was a little bit of surprised shocked, excited,” said Ben Clapper, director of Louisiana Right to Life.
Clapper said he’s excited by the draft and are waiting to celebrate the official overturn.
“If this is the case we want to make sure we’re taking the steps in protecting every human life and giving every human life a chance,” said Clapper.
If Roe v. Wade is overturned this will impact Louisiana immediately. Louisiana is one of more than a dozen states with “trigger laws” — which means that if Roe is overturned, Louisiana law would automatically kick in and ban abortion.
“And it would also overturn the right to many of our neighboring states. The result would be that the closest clinic would be in Illinois,” said Frankel.
Pro-choice advocates say the issue is bigger than just banning abortions.
“Louisiana is a poor state, but we can be a very rich state if we center our women and our children, but that does not include controlling their bodies,” said Davonte Lewis from the Louisiana Budget Project.
Chief Justice John Roberts is calling the leak an “egregious breach” and has launched an investigation.
The final ruling of the case is expected in June.