Pro-life groups and politicians celebrate Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade

ALBANY — Pro-life groups, politicians and church officials applauded the Supreme Court’s decision Friday to dismantle the constitutional right to abortion.

While access to the procedure will remain unchanged in the Empire State, top GOP elected officials and everyday New Yorkers said they fully support the 6-3 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), who last month walked back comments about appointing a pro-life health commissioner if elected governor, said he would like to see more done to promote alternatives to abortion in light of the decision.

“In a state that has legalized late-term partial-birth abortion and non-doctors performing abortion, in a state that refuses to advance informed consent and parental consent, and where not enough is being done to promote adoption and support mothers, today is yet another reminder that New York clearly needs to do a much better job to promote, respect and defend life,” he said in a statement.

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) appears during New York's Republican gubernatorial debate at the studios of Spectrum News NY1 in Manhattan, New York on Monday, June 20, 2022. (Brittainy Newman/)

Father Brian Graebe, pastor of the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, told the Daily News he was “overjoyed” by the Supreme Court ruling and argued that the landmark Roe decision muzzled public discourse on the subject.

“It’s been decades of prayer and work through the legal system, through the legislative process to bring us to this point, which gets us to the starting gate,” he said. “Now we can begin to debate this in the public square.”

Explainer: What does the Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Roe V. Wade mean for New York

However, Graebe said he was concerned about reactions to the ruling, noting that there had been vandalism at the storied Lower Manhattan church in recent days.

“I hope that those who disagree with it can do so peacefully,” he said.

The Rev. Brian Graebe places flowers on a statue of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012, at Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Roman Catholic Church in Lagrangeville, N.Y. (Karl Rabe/)

Pro-lifers are a minority in New York, a state that codified the protection afforded under Roe with the Reproductive Health Act in 2019.

A Siena College poll released earlier this month found strong support for recently enacted laws enhancing abortion protections in New York.

The survey also showed that 60% of New Yorkers wanted to see the Supreme Court uphold Roe while only 24% supported the longstanding decision being overturned.

Anti-abortion protesters celebrate following Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, a federally protected right to abortion, outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Friday, June 24, 2022. (Gemunu Amarasinghe/)

Still, anti-abortion groups such as Feminists Choosing Life of New York celebrated Friday’s ruling.

“We are grateful the High Court recognized abortion rights do not exist within our Constitution. Abortion rights are now a matter of state policy,” the group said in a statement. “We support science which clearly demonstrates that unborn children are human beings. Abortion oppresses women and kills children.”

Andrew Giuliani, also running in the Republican gubernatorial primary, tipped his hat to his old employer as he applauded the decision, thanking former president Donald Trump for his conservative appointments to the nation’s highest court.

“As a pro-life New Yorker, I celebrate the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe vs Wade,” he said in a statement. “It’s a victory for states’ rights but more importantly, the sanctity of life.”