Social worker and district 3 county commission candidate Stephanie Manning found herself in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building over the weekend protesting the court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Manning was in D.C. participating in a conference for social workers whenever she received the news Roe v. Wade had been overturned.

“We were sitting in this conference. It’s a social workers conference I just have to go to every year to get my continuing education credits. I was sitting in a suicide prevention education session and that’s when everyone’s phone pinged, and it was Roe v. Wade overturned,” said Manning. “After the session was over, the conference let us use the whiteboard signs they were using to write protest signs on them. A bunch of social workers just went to the Supreme Court for the rest of the day. So that was really fun because we just saw an army of social workers just bombarding the Supreme Court and it was nice to see, it was very nice.”

She explained that for real progress after this it’s going to take more tragedy for children, to the point where the public won’t be able to stand it.

“So, you know, Alabama is usually last to get anything done when it comes to progress. So, we’re probably going to have to see a lot more kids being abused and a lot more kids dying before we can get the kind of child protection that Alabama really needs,” Manning said.

She described hearing the decision as being a surreal experience with her professional colleagues.

“It was great to see a lot of social workers from states that don’t have those, you know, trigger bans. There was someone there from Missouri who it literally took Missouri nine minutes after the overturning for them to put in that law. It was very surreal for her, as a social worker, to see her sitting there for about five minutes, she was hopeful and then you know, about three minutes later she lost all that and that was very sad to see. All because I knew from Alabama where that was going, and I think she still had hope for her state,” said Manning.

Manning went on to describe the environment at the protest as being calming.

“I thought it would be very hectic and wild, but it was actually very weirdly calming. I mean, everyone was there with the same beliefs, there were drums beating, everyone chanting so everyone was very united in front of the Supreme Court. There were hardly any anti-protesters, that was really nice. Every time there would be, the police response was very good, and they would remove the counter-protesters from the circle. So, yeah, I think it was a very good response,” said Manning.

She believes provisions need to be put in place to assist mothers and children in poverty and make those populations a higher priority.

“If elected to the commission, I want to really put some effort into funding things for unwed mothers, mothers living in poverty, children living in poverty, children who are a result of rape or incest. Really putting some provisions in there and funding services that are already there for those populations, but really just making sure that they’re of a higher priority,” said Manning.

Manning expressed concern for the current state of the Department of Human Resources in light of Roe v. Wade being overturned. She states the overturning of Roe v. Wade could present a conflict with their code of ethics and how they handle self-determination.

“It changes a lot. It changes the way we keep our client’s right to self-determination. If we have a client that wants an abortion, we can’t necessarily let them have the right to their self-determination anymore, and that’s in our code of ethics. So that’s going to be a huge conflicting situation for us in the future,” said Manning. “There’s going to be a lot more children living in poverty, and there’s going to be a lot more children who are in situations of abuse and neglect. So that’s going to put a huge burden on local DHRs and things like that. So yeah, it’s going to be a very huge change and a very huge demand for more social workers.”

She went on to say she wants to see greater care for children after birth by elected officials.

“I don’t think they’re going to respond. I think they’re going to leave it as is because from what my understanding is, they’re pro-birth not pro-life, which means they’re not pro-Child Tax Credits, not pro-WIC, or anything like that. They do not seem to care about the child after birth, but that’s something that I would love to change if elected to the commission,” said Manning.

The News Courier reached out to the other District 3 commission candidate, Derrick Gatlin, for his response to the Supreme Court decision but did not have a response as of press time.

Manning gave a reminder that the motherhood mortality rate in Alabama is high and how women’s healthcare protections go beyond abortion access.

“It really comes down to who we elect in office, we need to elect people who are going to protect these children who are born into very terrible situations and who are going to protect women’s health care and things like that. You know, it’s not just about access to abortion, we already have a very high motherhood mortality rate in Alabama. So really, it comes down to who we elect and who’s going to be able to get the most done in Montgomery,” said Manning.

Not only does the decision impact women’s healthcare, marriage equality and LGBTQ+ healthcare could see a future impact due to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

“I definitely have concerns for the future of gender affirming healthcare and same sex marriage. Clarence Thomas’ comments made it very clear that the few established LGBTQ+ rights we have in this country are at risk. Anyone who believes in small government should be concerned by what’s happening,” said Manning.

Manning encouraged her colleagues to become civically engaged as the conversation regarding human rights continues.

“Our social workers have to get more civically engaged. They have to vote, they have to advocate for legislation that helps them do their job,” said Manning.