Court Overturns Roe

CELINA - Area officials and residents reacted Friday to the Supreme Court decision overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, with some rejoicing in a moment they've long awaited and others lamenting what they believe is a major setback for women's rights.

The anti-abortion movement has a pronounced presence in Mercer County, with "pray to end abortion" signs a common site in yards. For years, area teens have hopped in busses to make their way to the annual March for Life in Washington D.C.

"Roe v. Wade has fallen! The U.S. Supreme Court just overturned Roe in the Dobbs decision! Thanks be to God," reads a social media post by Mercer County Right to Life.

The group plans to celebrate the decision on the lawn at the east side of the Mercer County Courthouse in Celina at 6 p.m. Monday with speakers, food, drinks and music.

"The decision, while a landmark decision, only kicks the decision of abortion laws back to the states. The fight for life is not over … the battle will continue," reads an event poster.

There did not appear to be any organized protests to the high court rulings in the area on Friday.

In response to the prospect of nationwide protests against the Supreme Court's decision, Holy Rosary Catholic Church in St. Marys invited people to its Adoration Chapel Saturday night to pray, according to the church's Facebook page.

In a letter, Archbishop of Cincinnati Dennis M. Schnurr said the court's decision to reverse Roe v. Wade is a welcome and potential watershed moment in the history of the United States.

"This decision means that states, including Ohio, now have the option to legally protect the most vulnerable of all human beings: babies in the womb," he wrote. "The constant teaching of the Catholic Church is that human life begins at conception. God alone is the Author and Lord of life. Therefore, the intentional taking of innocent human life is intrinsically evil and must always be opposed."

Modern science, Schnurr wrote, "only strengthens the Church's opposition to abortion, as advancements in genetics and prenatal imaging increasingly demonstrate that a unique human life begins at conception."
  Celina City Council President and pastor Jason King said he was ecstatic about the high court's ruling on Friday, noting pro-life supporters and Christians are celebrating the overturning of what he believes was one of the worst decisions ever made by the Supreme Court.

"It's a long awaited decision," King told the newspaper. "I was in my mom's womb when Roe v. Wade passed. Anybody in my generation or younger, in my opinion, had to overcome the atrocity of abortion."

King championed an effort to make Celina a sanctuary city for the unborn. City council members on Nov. 22, though, voted 4-3 against the legislation that would have outlawed abortion in the city.

The ordinance was defeated after three public readings that brought out massive crowds of people who gave hours of impassioned testimony in support of and against the legislation.

King said he's confident either Ohio's Heartbeat law, currently under injunction, will be instated or the Legislature will take action to address abortion after Friday's ruling. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced on social media that he filed a motion in federal court on Friday morning to dissolve the injunction.

"Locally, I don't know that we will have to do anything more than what we already tried to do in establishing a sanctuary city," he said. "We'll see what happens here from the Ohio Legislature and Yost's (filing)."

Near the splash pad in the Bryson Park District in Celina on Friday afternoon, park attendees shared their thoughts on the Supreme Court's ruling.

"I believe in a woman's right to choose. I don't agree with it (abortion), but I don't agree the government should get involved," said Blake Bayliss, 32, of Wapakoneta.

Marilyn Stammen, 67, of New Weston, expressed ambivalence toward the abortion issue.

"(I) only feel … (women) should have an abortion if something is (wrong) with the mom or the baby. Those are innocent babies. It is not their fault they're coming into this world," she said.

Michelle Westerheide, 30, New Bremen, welcomed the ruling.

"I feel a big moment in time. I'm excited," she said. "Roe vs Wade was decided so long ago. I think this will help parents because now it (abortion) is not their first option when they are stuck in this position. It's important to offer support for parents when in a bad situation."

Mercer County Democratic Chairperson Sophia Rodriguez said she is frustrated with the court's decision, calling it a step backward.

"This is a decision that suppresses women," she said. "It takes us backward. For over 50 years, women had the choice to decide what they needed to do with their healthcare, with deciding to plan a family and those have been taken away."

She said her role as party chairperson is to help education people on what democracy means.

"When women are attacked (and) minorities are attacked, we need to educate people and explain to them what their rights are, what their rights should be (and) what we should look forward … to be a more equal state or community," Rodriguez said.

She encourages Fro people frustrated with the decision to not lose hope.

"(Don't) lose hope because even when we are under attack, whether it's women, whether it's a minority, whether it's the LGBTQ community, we gather, we organize and we educate," Rodriguez said. "We put ourselves in a position where we can influence those types of decisions. Progress sometimes takes steps back, but it doesn't mean that those steps can't be moved forward again and that's what we have to focus on. Even though these are steps backward for women, those steps can be taken forward again and we can do that at the ballot box. We can do that by voting for candidates that are women-friendly, that are LGBTQ-friendly (and) are minority-friendly."

Patty Thees, director of Choosing Life Pregnancy Center in Celina, said the center exists to help everyone.

"We're pro-life. We've been pro-life from day one so we are here to help anyone in a pregnancy situation and there's all kinds of ways to help," Thees said.

She said the center offers pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, parenting classes and counseling.

Iris Harvey, CEO and president of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, said, "By overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court has now officially given politicians permission to control what we do with our bodies, deciding that we can no longer be trusted to determine the course for our own lives.

"This dangerous and chilling decision can have devastating consequences in Ohio, forcing people to travel hundreds, sometimes thousands, of miles for care or remain pregnant. Make no mistake - this decision goes beyond abortion. This is about who has power over you, who has the authority to make decisions for you, and who can control how your future is going to be."