Local : Abortion Foes in Orange County Celebrate Supreme Court Ruling

As did their colleagues across the nation, anti-abortion activists in Orange County exulted today over the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision imposing tough new restrictions on a woman’s right to the procedure.

“We’re pleased to see the court has taken a significant step toward the protection of women from exploitation and their children from murder,” said Russell Neal, an Orange County spokesman for Southern California Operation Rescue.

Although the court’s decision on a Missouri case is not expected to have any immediate effect locally, pro-choice advocates in the county lambasted the verdict, calling it the first salvo in what promises to be a prolonged war over the issue.

“It means we need to press our point a little harder, a little more vocally,” said Margie Fites Seigle, executive director of Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties. “We will do that by encouraging pro-choice persons to write to their legislators to let them know that reproductive rights should remain a choice for all women in California.”