Person on the Street: Locals react to Roe vs. Wade decision

Jun. 25—MARIETTA — In the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, the MDJ visited Marietta Square to hear what locals thought of the ruling.

Kelly Hayden, a teacher from Marietta:

"I'm pretty pro-life, being a follower of Jesus I want to make sure everyone gets taken care of, but it's really important to me that when the switch comes that those women who are in a place where they feel like they need an abortion, as a country, we need to make sure that they get what they need. I just hope it doesn't cause division. I hope it causes us to reach out and love on people. I think that's really important."

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Shea Merlin, accountant and airline pilot from Marietta:

"I think it's OK for the states to choose. I believe that each state is different and since we are a combination of states, United States, it's OK for each state to choose what they want to do."

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Abby Davis, Marietta attorney:

"I think that this a real hit to not just women but to families and to anybody out there who has had this choice now taken away from them. Now poverty comes into the question; can the families even take care of more children? We also have trauma cases, like incest and rape. It's very concerning. I also work with the Division of Family and Children Services quite heavily, and so I think that this is really going to impact the work we do, and it's going to make an already heavy caseload even heavier. I'm scared and I'm worried, but I do want people to know that there are people that love and support you. As a Christian through church, I love and support people. At the end of the day, it's about the person, not necessarily about decisions or what's happened in their past, it's how we love on people and I think this decision is a poor reflection of that."

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Brittany Hill, a caregiver from Fort Lauderdale, Florida:

"If I'm being honest, I would say it's pretty disappointing. I've never personally had an issue where I felt the need to get an abortion, but I do know that abortions are going to happen regardless. When I chose to educate myself, I realized that not everyone has access to get an abortion, and they don't have the money to be able to go somewhere to get a safe abortion. I know it has been said before but you're not really stopping women from having abortions, you're just stopping safe ones. Unsafe abortions are going to happen regardless."

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Rev. Perry Price, Marietta minister:

"I don't believe in abortion because I'm a man of God and abortion is not good. Abortion is killing people and the Bible says we should not do it. I am happy with the ruling today."

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Brooke Gary, a student from Marietta:

"We're moving backwards. I feel like people should have the right to do what they want with their own bodies."

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Randall Towers of Powder Springs, sales:

"I'm pretty pleased with this ruling. I think it's the right thing to do."

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Lilly Hurn, a student from Marietta:

"I think it shows the lack of true democracy that we have in our country. The Supreme Court is supposed to be an unbiased entity, and it clearly isn't if we are going back and revising things in a very partisan way."

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Vanessa Resendiz of Marietta, an intern for an accountant:

"As a female, we should have free will. In certain cases, I feel like abortion is OK, but I feel like it can get abused to a certain extent. I'm not OK with that, I feel like once you get old enough, it's not OK to kill a baby, but it depends on the situation. This decision should have stayed on the federal level; it's not fair, because some states are more blue so this is going to be very chaotic."

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Isabella Maxwell, a student from Dallas, Texas:

"Yes, I'm upset about the women's rights being taken away, but I'm concerned about other rights. I'm worried for trans rights, intersexuality, gays being able to marry, and interracial marriages. I'm very worried they are going to take this all away."