If Friday’s Supreme Court decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization came as no surprise, thanks to the controversial leaking of a draft opinion nearly two months ago, the response the response in Hawaii was still acute.

As news of the decision broke in the early morning hours of Hawaii Standard Time, advocates on both sides of the abortion debate went public with their reactions.

For the Republican Party of Hawaii, the decision marked a significant victory in a decades-long fight to strike down the 1973 ruling that protected the right to have an abortion.

“For a half century, unelected judges have dictated America’s abortion laws,” the party stated in a post to its Facebook page on Friday. “This decision returns the debate back to the states and empowers the American people.”

Their Democratic counterparts had a decidedly different reaction.

“This infuriating decision will trigger laws in many states banning abortion and will open the door to a national abortion ban,” Dennis Jung, chair of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, said in a statement.

Jung said the party will work with legislators to expand access to reproductive health care.

The state Department of the Attorney General also issued a statement decrying the decision and affirming the continuation of legal abortion in the state.

“The U.S. Supreme Court’s deeply disappointing and profoundly wrong decision today strips away a fundamental right, causing immediate and devastating consequences for those seeking access to safe reproductive health care,” the statement read. “Despite the Supreme Court’s decision, abortion care remains protected under Hawaii law.”

A half-dozen hastily organized demonstrations were held Friday afternoon on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii Island, drawing hundreds of people upset by the high court decision.

While anti-abortion organizations and individual activists welcomed the news, their public responses were noticeably measured.

“We’re very, very excited but this is not the end of the road,” said Eva Andrade, president and CEO of the Hawaii Family Forum. “We’re going to continue as we have been doing since Hawaii decriminalized abortion in 1970 to walk alongside and support women who are facing an unplanned pregnancy.”

Andrade acknowledged that Hawaii law affirmatively establishes the right to an abortion but said she supports efforts to improve education about adoption and to support resources for women who elect to keep their babies. She also encouraged more open, less rancorous discussion about abortion laws.

“In a world where everything is so polarized, whenever the issue rises up, people jump into their talking points,” she said. “We should be able to reach across the aisle and have meaningful discussions.”

Andrade said she recognizes the intense feelings of those who disagree with Friday’s decision but said she did not think any subsequent backlash will significantly affect this year’s elections in Hawaii.

“I think people here tend to be very loyal and they’ll stick with their candidate in most cases,” she said.

State Rep. Adrian Tam, a Democrat, agreed that investments in education, health care and other avenues of supporting women and lowering abortion rates are needed but said the Supreme Court decision did not advance those aims.

“Today’s ruling on Roe v. Wade shows that SCOTUS is not serious about lowering abortion rates,” he said. “If we want to lower abortion rates, we won’t overturn Roe; we would make heavy investments in child care, health care and education. Instead, we will push millions of women to seek abortions in the shadows. Congress must act now to codify Roe into law.”

While acknowledging that the Supreme Court’s responsibility is to interpret the Constitution without regard for political considerations, state Sen. Karl Rhoads, a Democrat, said the Dobbs ruling, issued just a day after the high court struck down restrictions on carrying a concealed weapon, could ultimately undermine the court’s legitimacy as both decisions ran counter to overwhelming popular opinion.

“If you turn you back on 70% of the population for any length of time, you will erode your authority and power,” he said. “Even in a dictatorship, that’s true.”

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii.