U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning, is pictured during a town hall meeting in Kiantone. P-J file photo

U.S. Rep. Tom Reed doesn’t want to say if he supports or opposes overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion in the United States. But he does support Congress deciding whether abortion should be legalized or not.

During a conference call Wednesday with members of the media from the 23rd Congressional District, Reed was asked by The Post-Journal and OBSERVER his reaction to a leaked Supreme Court draft memo that shows there are five of the nine justices that support overturning Roe v. Wade.

First, Reed said he was very concerned about the leaked memo. “That is a threat to one of our institutions, the Supreme Court, that cannot be ignored and it needs to be addressed and to be recognized,” he said.

Next, Reed said it’s time Congress does its part and take up the issue of abortion. “The issue of abortion is going to be with us until it is resolved through the legislative process,” he said.

Reed, R-Corning, described himself as someone who “supports life” and at the same time is someone who is “very empathetic to mothers to find themselves in this situation.” He said he supports abortion when it comes to rape, incest and when the life of the mother is threatened.

Reed believes lawmakers need to come together to find common ground. “We do not want unwanted pregnancies,” he said. “We want to make sure women have access to health care, have access to birth control, and other matters to allow them to prevent as many unwanted pregnancies as possible.”

Once lawmakers can come together and identify the areas common ground, Reed believes then it is time for the next step in debating the issue. “Because of my commitment to life, I hope people respect that, and that life of the unborn is a voice that I hear and that I will be a voice for in that debate,” he said.

When asked directly if he supports overturning Roe v. Wade, Reed replied, “I’ll leave that to the court. That is for the judges to ultimately decide.”

Reed notes that if Congress doesn’t address abortion at the federal level, states will address the issue, which is already happening.

“I think there’s going to be a tremendous amount of division in that scenario,” he said. “There’s going to be a tearing apart in regards to state versus state, and maybe there’s some common ground that we can start healing the nation if we start on those issues such as education, birth control, et cetera.”