Some high school students said the Supreme Court’s ruling on abortion is playing a role in their own big decision — where they'll go to college.
Ella Reese and her friend Samantha Kager live near Ithaca, where they're both going into the 11th grade. At a rally on Friday protesting the decision overturning Roe v Wade, they said abortion access has become a factor in their plans after graduation.
Reese said she's now more likely to stay in New York after high school.
Kager agreed.
"[The ruling], especially, is making me not want to go far away from here," Kager said. "Especially if I can't have free choice of what I want to do with my own body."
New York governor Kathy Hochul says the state will remain a “safe harbor” for those seeking abortion.
Several hundred folks out here in Ithaca protesting the decision to strike down Roe v Wade pic.twitter.com/AMpb6rdyJS
— Megan Zerez (@meganzerez) June 25, 2022
Samantha's mother, Sarah Kager, was also at the protest.
"I know New York State will keep abortion legal," Kager said. "But I worry about these girls and where they'll go and where they'll end up. Perhaps they'll need medical care and be denied it — or worse — charged with a felony? It's absurd."
Ithaca's Common Council is set to vote next week on a new ordinance that would make the city a so-called "sanctuary city" for patients seeking abortion. The ordinance would make it illegal for city employees and law enforcement to cooperate with an out-of-state investigation into people seeking or aiding an abortion.