The reaction in Pennsylvania to the United States Supreme Court’s opinion overturning Roe v. Wade was fast on both sides on Friday.

The Women’s Rights Project, a non-profit organization that fights for abortion rights in Pennsylvania, called the decision “catastrophic for reproductive rights” in a published statement, criticizing the High Court for serving “special interests instead of the justice”.

• The nonprofit said the Supreme Court ruling would empower anti-abortion state lawmakers, who seek to ban the procedure altogether.
• The group also warned that banning abortions would harm public health by increasing maternal and infant mortality, and that criminalizing the procedure could lead to a wave of mass incarcerations.

Mary Gallagher, The legislative director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, the state’s largest abortion rights organization, said the ruling “reversed an injustice.”

• “Today is a historic day for pregnant women, their unborn children and their families in Pennsylvania and across the United States,” she said.
• The group supports a statewide abortion ban, as well as the proposed constitutional amendmentwhich says that abortion is not guaranteed in the state constitution.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney a Democrat, said in a statement Friday that abortion is health care and that the ruling “opens the door to even more attacks on our constitutional rights.”

• “It is negligent to ‘ban abortion’ when abortion procedures will still take place, but are more likely to be dangerous under restrictive policies, unnecessarily and knowingly putting people’s lives at risk,” Kenney wrote.

State House Speaker Bryan Cutler and House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, both Republicans, said in a statement that the decision provides a “needed opportunity to review our existing abortion law,” which is already underway.

• “The decision once again makes it clear that it is up to each state to establish laws that are in the best interests of its residents,” they said.

Democratic Representative Dwight Evans, of Philadelphia, said in a statement that the Supreme Court was “acting in defiance of the American people” and that the decision will have a disproportionate impact on black, Latino, Indigenous communities, as well as people with disabilities, among others.

• “Reproductive justice has always been about racial and economic justice,” he said.

Reggie Shufordexecutive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said in a statement called Friday “a shameful day in the history of the Supreme Court.”

• “A sweeping court will face the backlash of the majority of Americans who believe people should have the right to an abortion,” he said.

Enlarge: Demonstrations to support access to abortion are programmed in Philadelphia on Friday in front of City Hall.

Go further: What the inversion of Roe v. Wade means for Pennsylvania