SUNNYVALE (KPIX) — Members of the Reformed Baptist Church in Silicon Valley celebrated after learning that the U.S. Supreme Court had overturned Roe. against Wade on Friday. They have been joined by other religious communities in the Bay Area who hope to one day ban abortions in California.

“We recognize that we live in polarized times. We recognize that we live in difficult times,” said pastor Brian Garcia of the church. “The work we have done has paid off and has been, in fact, successful.”

While anti-abortion rights advocates had long hoped that Roe v. Wade would be overturned as a first step toward ending abortions in the United States, they were still surprised by Friday’s decision.

“There’s always a residue of faith to believe that God can do things that we don’t see possible. Humanly speaking, I didn’t think that would happen,” said Larry Ihrig, senior pastor of Celebration Church in Livermore. “Our stance has to be what we consider our core values, you know? You can disagree with people without being disagreeable.”

Ihrig and others say they’re committed to bringing about the change they want to see happen in California, but they understand the protections here go beyond many other states. They also know that an effort to create a state constitutional amendment could pass voters this fall.

“Well, Roe v. Wade has been with us for a very long time, but we’ve never lost hope,” said Kathleen Domingo, executive director of the Catholic Conference of California. “It’s kind of a real moment of joy for us and again at the same time a real understanding that a lot of people have a lot of questions right now and we want to be there for them and guide them through this. process. “

Domingo says they will take the same approach as we enter a new era in the abortion rights debate.

She says her organization’s work will continue to encourage women to seek services that can help them with the circumstances that lead some to consider abortion. She hopes the state won’t go ahead with a permanent abortion policy that could impact future generations. It’s a view shared by other church leaders in the Bay Area.

“We still have a long way to go and we also come together to pray and ask God to grant us his favor and that we can begin the work of culture change even here in a liberal state like California,” said Garcia at KPIX. .