"Caregivers and counselors see a dark period as Californians struggle with fear"
Even though abortion remains legal in California, the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade on Friday, June 24, has had a chilling effect on women across the state concerned about the future of their reproductive health rights, as well as among historically marginalized groups who worry that their rights, too, will eventually be stripped.
John Tsilimparis, a licensed psychotherapist in Los Angeles, said residents in this country have been dealing with a mental health crisis since at least the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and that current events – including recent mass shootings, inflation, a war in Ukraine and ongoing political divisiveness – had already left Americans grief-stricken.
The Supreme Court decision will only add to that grief, he said.