STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (WTAJ) — With the news that the Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years, many are concerned about the uncertainty ahead.

“Hearing the news, those of us who do this work, advocacy work, honestly, unfortunately, weren’t surprised,” Penn State Gender Equity Center Assistant Director Becca Geiger said.

Geiger said she and her colleagues at the Center were feeling down when they were notified of the ruling.

“Feeling disheartened,” she said. “Feeling disempowered as if there was nothing that individuals could do.”

The announcement that Roe v. Wade had been overturned by the Supreme Court left others in State College thinking of what’s to come.

“State College has a lot of young women and people of college age that are one of the populations that is most greatly affected by this decision,” PSU Law Professor Dara Purvis said. “Not just because it’s about abortion, but it’s also about contraceptive access.”

Purvis faced her own challenges even before this ruling.

“I’m also a mother, and I’m someone who has faced specific medical challenges,’ Purvis said. “Even with Roe v. Wade as settled law, I faced challenges getting that medical care.”

While some states are immediately moving to ban abortion, Purvis said Pennsylvania is in the middle.

“Pennsylvania is one of them that neither has already prohibited abortion nor has it explicitly protected the right to abortion,” she said.

Purvis noted the upcoming gubernatorial race in the state as a key deciding factor in Pennsylvania’s ultimate decision on this issue.

“The governor’s election is now going to be a referendum on individual rights in Pennsylvania,” Purvis said.

Even with the ruling, Geiger said the Gender Equity Center is still moving forward.

“In any movement, you’re going to have progress and you’re going to have set backs, Geiger said. “But that doesn’t mean that you stop fighting for equity and inclusion access.”