Friday’s Supreme Court announcement overturning the constitutional right to an abortion continues to reverberate across the country. Thousands of people protested the decision in San Diego County over the weekend.
Health care providers are expecting an influx of people to California from states where abortion is now illegal to obtain the procedure. Local abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood are already seeing an uptick in appointments for abortions.
Dr. Toni Marengo, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, joined Midday Edition Monday to talk more about what the organization is seeing now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned.
"From the Friday before the decision to the day of the official SCOTUS decision on Friday, we had 100% more abortions booked across our affiliate, not all patients from Arizona, but I think it was really a wake-up call and I think patients in Arizona in particular weren't really sure what they were going to do," Marengo said.
Marengo said she saw a great deal of confusion as people try to understand what abortion laws are in individual states.
"What they've done is return this to the states, and it's very chaotic. What you're seeing right now is people in states, as well as legislators in states, really not understanding where they stand. What's legal? What isn't legal? So there's chaos right now, and, moving forward, we need to earn our rights back," Marengo said.
