Monday’s bombshell report by Politico on a document later confirmed to be authentic by Chief Justice John Roberts has reverberated across the country. In Berkshire County, leaders say the rights of those seeking access to abortion are intact regardless of the final decision from the court expected in the coming weeks.
“We saw this coming for years now in Massachusetts, and so we took the step in the legislature in 2020 to codify Roe in Massachusetts law. And so we passed a law that not only kind of makes it Massachusetts law, but also expanded access. And so here in Massachusetts, abortion is legal today, and it will remain legal," said Western Massachusetts State Senator Adam Hinds, who is running for lieutenant governor in this year’s election. “What is interesting is now in the budget that we're considering, the House handed to the Senate a provision that we'll be taking up in a couple of weeks that includes money that can be helpful in maintaining access for folks coming from outside of the Commonwealth. And so, we anticipate being a bit of a safe haven as well.”
3rd Berkshire District State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier noted that the Democrat dominated state legislature overrode a veto from Republican Governor Charlie Baker to pass the abortion access law in 2020.
“I feel good for the people who live in Pittsfield, in Berkshire County," she told WAMC. "We have the protections here.”
WAMC asked the Berkshire Democrats to reflect on their party’s successes and failures around abortion rights.
“Democrats in national leadership generally spent a lot of time reacting instead of being proactive, and I mean, I'm not going to be shy about it. I supported Bernie Sanders for a reason, because he takes a very proactive approach. He offers red meat that people, I think, want. You know, he takes a stand, he fights for it," said State Representative Paul Mark of the Berkshire 2nd, who is also running for Hinds’ state Senate seat. “Nationally, people like Senator Manchin, people like Senator Sinema down in Arizona and West Virginia respectively, they sit around and they wait, and we build these majorities, and they don't allow other members of the party to, I think, be really responsive to what the people of this country want.”
Mark says Republican leadership has been more adept at taking advantage of their time in power.
“They make sure that even when it's someone like Donald Trump, who I think is actually objectionable to a lot of maybe Christian leaning conservatives, what they like about him is they know he will fulfill what they're actually after, which was making sure that he somehow got three justices to appoint to the Supreme Court, to get a conservative supermajority that will be able to overturn something like this that's been something they've been after for decades," said Mark.
Hinds is more forgiving of his party.
“Because of manipulation by Mitch McConnell, we have a right-wing court that is dragging us, or it seem to be dragging us, into the dangers of decades past. And so now, I believe, if anyone needed a wakeup call, this is it," he told WAMC. "I am hesitant to blame Democrats when this is clearly the result of Mitch McConnell and others and a very deliberate strategy by Republicans.”
Mark says the return of the abortion rights debate to the national stage bodes well for state Democrats in this fall’s election.
“A great example would be, in 2012, Scott Brown was very popular as a senator," explained Mark. "It looked like he was going to be reelected. And then as we watch what was happening nationally, and Elizabeth Warren, obviously a great candidate, got out there, she gained a lot of traction when national affairs made it look like it's really important that we make sure that Massachusetts is sending a Democrat down to Washington to kind of counter what Mitch McConnell is up to, that kind of thing. So I think people in Massachusetts are extremely well educated and well informed voters, and I think this is going to be positive.”
That said, Mark contends the leaked draft opinion is an existential threat to civil rights in America.
“I don't want to get ahead of ourselves, because drafts change, the final product maybe doesn't have the votes, or maybe looks significantly different when and if and when it does come out," Mark told WAMC. "But the precedent that now could be set, depending on how they rule- We’re not just talking about undermining reproductive health here, we're talking about undermining the fundamental concept of privacy, which should be something that worries a lot of people because it extends to so many other areas of the law.”
