SAN DIEGO — Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest said the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe. v. Wade two years ago continues to have an impact on people nationwide and in San Diego.
A news conference was held Monday at Planned Parenthood in Mission Valley.
"That decision gave individual states the legal right to ban abortion, and many states took immediate steps to do just that," said Darrah Johnson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest. "As of last month, 21 states across the nation have either severely restricted, or eliminated access to abortion entirely."
She said the Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, created a lot of confusion. She said some patients aren't sure about what their rights to reproductive healthcare are. She said some doctors and healthcare providers aren't sure what is legal and what isn't, therefore, some are denying abortions all together.
According to Planned Parenthood, immediately after the Dobbs decision, the organization saw a 500 percent increase in patients seeking care. Many of them were from out of state, particularly Arizona.
According to Dr. Antoinette Marengo, Chief Medical Officer of Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, things have calmed down quite a bit since 2022. She said that number has dropped closer to 10 percent. However, she said the increase in patients continues to have an effect on wait times in San Diego.
"Our services are in high demand," she said. "We continue to book out several days at our San Diego clinic in particular."
Other speakers included San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott, who shared her own personal story of miscarriage.
"In the second trimester of my pregnancy, my husband and I badly wanted that pregnancy, the fetus' heartbeat stopped," she said. "I had miscarried. The fetus did not abort after the miscarriage, so I was forced to have a D&C to remove the fetal tissue. The procedure was unsuccessful. I got very sick. I underwent the process again. This time it was a success. In some states, doctors may refuse to perform a D&C because Dobbs has made the status of the law so unclear."
She said she wonders if she would have received the care she received in states where there is legal uncertainty.
CBS 8 reached out to California Right to Life for comment. A spokesperson released the following statement:
We celebrate the overturning of the disastrous Roe vs. Wade ruling that fabricated a "right" to abortion in the Constitution and led to the violent deaths of over 60 million baby boys and girls. As Alito's majority opinion in Dobbs so thoroughly explained, there is not and has never been a Constitutional right to kill unborn human beings.
Unfortunately, while the court has corrected its error, the damage to our country cannot be repaired overnight. The abortion industry has allies at all levels of government, media, and academia who will continue to insist that mothers must kill their children in order to succeed. We have much work still to do to create a society in which the inherent dignity and right to life of all human beings is recognized and protected by law.
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