Local Leaders React To Supreme Court Draft Opinion To Overturn Roe v. Wade

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – The nation is watching the U.S. Supreme Court following the leak of a draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade.

State leaders are scrambling to put safeguards in place to keep abortions legal, while Californians on both sides of the fiery debate anxiously watch what the high court will decide on the landmark case.

The hot-button issue has people weighing in from the First Partner of California to the everyday woman.

"The fact that my daughters are going to have fewer rights than I had is horrifying," said Jennifer Siebel Newsom.

Annette Nicholson is worried a reversal would reduce access to quality healthcare for marginalized communities.

"It's going to affect mostly women of color," Nicholson said. "[A] lot of people have money and insurance…but a lot of us don't.

Everyone has an opinion on Roe v. Wade, but few are willing to share it in a public forum except Californians for Life, an anti-abortion group.

Executive director Wynette Sills is hesitant to call the leaked draft a win.

"Well, it certainly is reason to be cautiously optimistic," Sills said.

If Roe v. Wade is overturned, abortion would still be legal in the state. Sills says the reversal would only be the beginning of the group's work.

But could the very concept the legal precedent is based on—privacy—unravel other personal freedoms gained in modern history?

"Everybody has been waiting for this Supreme Court to begin to define and fill the direction for the future," said Gary Dietrich, CBS13's political analyst.

According to Dietrich, there are no signs now the nation's highest court will start throwing out other decisions because the opinion narrowly focuses on abortion.