Washington advocates say abortion ruling won’t end debate

There were cheers from abortion rights advocates in both Washington, D.C. and Washington state after the US Supreme Court decided the Texas safety standards for abortion clinics are unconstitutional.

We got a different reaction in Lynnwood, when we sat down with an official from the anti-abortion Family Policy Institute.

“I was very actually very upset,” said governmental affairs director Sarah Davenport-Smith.

“If I am going in for a surgical procedure, I want the same level of care that I could be expected to have at any clinic or hospital,” she said.

We got a different reaction from Lisa Stone, of Legal Voice, which helped to write the 1991 initiative that turn the historic Roe v. Wade decision into Washington law.

“Actually, root canals have a higher rate of bad side effects than abortion, so the safety argument was a pretext. They were pretending to be worried about women’s heath but really they just wanted to stop women from accessing abortion,” Stone said.

“Washington’s law actually says that it is a fundamental right for a woman to choose or refuse both birth control and abortion,” Stone continued.

Stone believes only Oregon and California may offer stronger protection of the right to choose.

“Abortion facilities in Washington state are among the most heavily regulated clinical settings,” Stone said.

“I didn’t understand why the Supreme Court decided to lessen the standards, to lower the standards,” said Davenport-Smith.

Despite Monday’s outcome, both sides believe there will be battles over abortion rights in the upcoming legislature session in January.