NORTHFIELD — The debate over reproductive rights in America was thrust into the spotlight May 2 when a leaked document reported Roe v. Wade was in jeopardy.
Virginia-based media company Politico reported it had obtained a leaked draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court indicating it may overturn the landmark ruling that provided a woman the constitutional right to an abortion.
The incident immediately sparked widespread rallies for reproductive rights and accompanying abortion protests across the country, and the issues were discussed at two local events.
Congressional candidate Carolyn Rush and others shared their views on that and other issues affecting women during a forum May 11 in Northfield. A week earlier, Atlantic County Commissioner Caren Fitzpatrick led a rally outside the office of U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew in Mays Landing.
Rush, a Sea Isle City resident, is running in the Democratic primary June 7 for the Second Congressional District against career law enforcement professional Tim Alexander.
Rush was invited to speak by Northfield Democratic activist and supporter Eileen Toland, who had hoped for a debate between the two candidates.
Alexander, who already has received the party nominations and the primary ballot position in all six counties that make up the sprawling district, declined to attend, saying in a statement that his calendar was full and there was too little notice.
Rush has not conceded.
The winner is expected to face Van Drew, who is seeking a second term in the House, this time as a Republican.
About 10 people, including the candidate’s daughter and a couple of other supporters, gathered at the Harvey D. Johnson American Legion Post 295 on Mill Road. Others participated via Zoom.
Rush said she has been “campaigning on the topic of equality — equality in voting rights, equality for our LGBTQ brothers and sisters — but one of the main things I have been talking about is women’s equality.”
“It is an important topic right now, very much in the news and something we must address,” she said, adding that women also face issues with pay equity.
Rush’s solution is to provide more birth control.
“I believe that making contraceptives easily available to all will help reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies and therefor the number of abortions that are requested,” she said. “But any woman who finds herself in a situation where an abortion is the right answer for her, she should be the one that gets to make that decision, nobody else. Not any court, not any government official. We must codify Roe v. Wade.”
Participant Debbie Duncan said having an abortion is a desperate decision, a “horrendous, life-changing act” that no one decides to pursue lightly.
“Nobody wants an abortion,” she said. “But if we care so much about an unborn child, when that child is born, where are they?”
She said many more children would be born into poverty, unwanted.
“For a woman to decide that ‘I cannot provide what this child needs’ is an extremely difficult decision to make, but I would have to support that decision,” Duncan said. “I want my granddaughter to have that choice.”
Rush agreed, saying “Evangelicals are making it out that it is this human life and it doesn’t matter who played a part in creating it, that’s what they are focused on. It’s phony, it’s fake and we have to call it out for what it is and figure out ways to make sure this is addressed properly.”
A question about messaging strategy led to a discussion on group names.
Rush said instead of pro-life, the groups against abortion should be called anti-choice groups.
“That’s really what they are doing, taking away a woman’s choice,” she said. “Having an abortion is never an easy choice but not having that choice is unfair to every woman who finds herself in that situation.”
Rush spoke of social issues that would be exacerbated by an overwhelming number of unwanted births.
“We don’t want to force someone to have a baby and not take care of it,” she said. “There are so many social and economic issues that come from having women who are not prepared or interested in growing their family, forcing them to have children that they’re not prepared to have. It will destroy the lives of so many women and the children that are born into these families will have so much fewer opportunities, so it’s not really pro-life forcing that on a woman.”
Jacqueline Reynolds questioned what would happen in the case of a fallopian tube pregnancy, which risks the life of the mother, and juvenile incest rape victims
“Her future will in all effects slow down to a crawl and it will drive her into poverty before she even has an opportunity to step up and be an adult. Life is over at that point if they demand that she carry it through,” Reynolds said.
“You can’t call yourself pro-life if you don’t care about that life,” Rush said.
Asked his position on reproductive rights, Alexander provided a statement.
“I believe the draft opinion clearly indicates that our democracy is under attack by the fringe right and their appointed justices, which may result in the worst example of governmental overreach.
“This attack on women’s rights is reprehensible, and Congress needs to continue to fight to protect the rights of all citizens. There was a time in our nation’s history when the government controlled the bodies of humans. We literally fought a war over this issue, and I believe this draft opinion parallels that dark period.”
Alexander said the opinion focuses on the fact that the Constitution does not guarantee a right to an abortion but barely discussed the Ninth Amendment.
“The Ninth Amendment was the framers’ attempt to ensure that the Bill of Rights was not seen as granting only the specific rights provided in the Constitution. This means the rights specified in the Constitution are not the only ones requiring protection,” he said.
Alexander said he would support women’s rights in the House.
“Women have the right to bodily autonomy and to make private decisions about their reproductive health. When elected, if Roe is not already codified, I will join in the fight to make it so, and I will not stop until Roe is the law.
Rally in Mays Landing
Fitzpatrick, a Linwood resident who has been fighting for women’s rights since a teenager, organized a rally a week earlier in Mays Landing, where she was joined by dozens of supporters. Among them was Alexander, whom Fitzpatrick has endorsed for the nomination.
Reached by telephone before the rally, Fitzpatrick said she was 14 years old when Roe v. Wade gave women the freedom to choose whether to carry out a pregnancy
She said it looks clear the court intends to overturn the ruling “unless there are a lot of changes in the thinking of the court.”
Fitzpatrick said she chose Van Drew’s office because he is the area representative in the House but also because of the congressman’s drastic position switch.
She said in 2018, when Van Drew was a Democrat, he was “vehemently pro-choice” and had a 100 percent rating from Planned Parenthood, but now as a Republican, he supports overturning the law.
Fitzpatrick said her goal was to show “there are very many people who do not agree with this decision and they have a voice.”
In September 2021, Fitzpatrick organized a rally outside B.F. Mazzeo Fruit & Produce in Northfield to counter protesters who had been picketing the business of then-Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo.
More than 50 pro-choice advocates gathered along with a smaller group of anti-abortion activists in a clash over reproductive rights.
The pro-choice rally, organized by Mazzeo, then-Assemblyman John Armato and Fitzpatrick — who were running together for the state Legislature — was arranged to counter what Fitzpatrick said had been months of harassment aimed at harming the livelihood of Mazzeo, whose family has owned and operated the produce market for decades.
In October 2020, Mazzeo had signed on as a co-sponsor of the Reproductive Freedom Act (S3030/A4848). Afterward, activists with the Pro Life Ministry of New Life Assembly of God in Egg Harbor Township and other groups began demonstrating outside the produce market on Route 9.
The Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act, which Gov. Phil Murphy signed Jan. 13, 2022, ensures state residents have the right to make their own health decisions when it comes to birth control and pregnancy-related care, including abortion. It also ensures financial barriers do not prevent anyone from making their own decisions when it comes to birth control and pregnancy-related care and expands access to such care by breaking down medically unnecessary restrictions that block access to care.
Fitzpatrick said at the time the bill would “codify into New Jersey state law that abortion is legal in New Jersey and does not depend on the fragility of Roe v. Wade.”
The week prior, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to block a law that took effect Aug. 31 in Texas that prohibits abortions once a medical professional can detect cardiac activity, usually around six weeks.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff