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Hundreds of activists rally outside Supreme Court for key abortion case Hundreds of activists rally outside Supreme Court for key abortion case
(about 7 hours later)
Even before the oral arguments began Wednesday inside the U.S. Supreme Court, crowds of abortion rights supporters and opponents from across the country gathered outside for what is considered the most significant abortion case to reach the high court in decades. As oral arguments were heard inside the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, crowds of abortion rights supporters and opponents gathered beyond the building’s white pillars to bear witness to the most significant abortion case to reach the court in decades.
The signs on display outside the court showed the divided feelings. Some linked arms. Others chanted. Many held signs.
“Life counts,” one read. Another said, “I am a pro-life feminist,” and another read, “My body, my choice.” Yet another read, “There’s nothing pro-life about anti-choice.” Another: “Menopausal women nostalgic for choice.” “Life counts,” read one. “Keep clinics open,” read another.
And there were divisions by color. Abortion rights supporters wore purple, and abortion opponents wore blue. Both sides were making speeches and at times drowned each other out. The divisions were also marked by colors. Supporters of abortion rights wore purple and opponents wore blue. Dueling podiums held speakers who vied at times to be heard over one another.
The crowds reflected what’s at stake in the case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt , which challenges Texas’s stringent regulations on abortion clinics. Lawmakers argue that the restrictions, passed by the Texas legislature in 2013, protect women’s health. Abortion providers say in reality they cause clinics to close and make it unduly difficult for women to obtain abortions, a constitutional right. The crowds reflected what is at stake in the case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt , which challenges Texas’s stringent regulations on abortion clinics. State lawmakers argue that the restrictions, passed by the legislature in 2013, protect women’s health. Abortion providers say in reality that they cause clinics to close and make it unduly difficult for women to obtain legal abortions.
[Supreme Court to hear arguments on Texas abortion-clinics case] [Supreme Court hears arguments on Texas abortion clinics case]
In the past five years, states have passed more than 250 restrictions on abortion.In the past five years, states have passed more than 250 restrictions on abortion.
Some of those who came had lined up earlier in the week, camping outside to secure a seat for the oral arguments. Others had no intention of going inside but simply wanted to participate in the scene around the iconic white pillars, including the rallies by antiabortion activists and abortion rights advocates. “I’m a uterus,” Jessie Sebbo shouted as she stood in the crowd, wearing a pink silky costume. “And I’m here to say thank you!”
“I’m a uterus,” Jessie Sebbo shouted as she stood in the crowd, wearing a pink silk costume. “And I’m here to say thank you!”
“They are here to fight for my right to do whatever I choose to do,” said Sebbo, 34, of Atlanta. “I’m a complicated organ. Sometimes things happen that I don’t want to happen.”“They are here to fight for my right to do whatever I choose to do,” said Sebbo, 34, of Atlanta. “I’m a complicated organ. Sometimes things happen that I don’t want to happen.”
Sebbo said her husband made her costume and that it’s anatomically correct down to purple gloves that represent fallopian tubes. But she modified it a bit to be able to give hugs. Sebbo said that her husband made her costume and that it’s anatomically correct down to purple gloves that represent fallopian tubes. But she modified it a bit to allow her to move more easily. “I want to give out plenty of hugs,” she said. “I’m hugging pro-lifers, too, because I think we need to share a little more love and understanding.”
“I want to give out plenty of hugs,” she said. “I’m hugging pro-lifers too because I think we need to share a little more love and understanding.” As she walked through the crowd, people stopped her to take pictures. “Thank you for being here for me!” she shouted.
As she walked through the crowd people stopped her to take pictures. “Thank you for being here for me!” she shouted. Amid the chants and ­speeches, one group stood quietly in the crowd, their mouths covered with strips of red duct tape with a single written word: Life. They were praying, not protesting, they said.
Amid the chants and speeches, one group stood quietly in the crowd, strips of red duct tape over their mouths. They were praying, not protesting, they said. Matt Lockett, 45, said members of his group, Bound4Life, have stood outside the Supreme Court for more than 10 years. Sometimes it’s two people, sometimes 100.
Matt Lockett said members of his group, Bound 4 Life, have stood outside the Supreme Court for the last 11 years. Sometimes it’s two people, sometimes 100. “We’ve been especially praying over the Texas case for 2 ­1/2 years,” he said. “We’ll continue praying all the way until a decision is reached.”
“We’ve been especially praying over the Texas case for two and a half years,” he said. “We’ll continue praying all the way until a decision is reached.” Nearby, Dee Kalman held a black sign with white letters that read, “I regret my abortion.”
Dee Kalman held a black sign with white letters that read, “I regret my abortion.” She had five abortions in the 1970s, she said. “I didn’t want them, but I was too young to figure that out,” said Kalman, 64, who lives in Northern Virginia.
She had five abortions in the 1970s, she said. “I didn’t want them but I was too young to figure that out,” said Kalman, 64, who lives in Northern Virginia. “I lived in a state of self-denial for decades.” Next to her, Nancy Tanner, 64, also carried a sign and a story. Her abortion was in 1984 at a D.C. Planned Parenthood facility. She said she is affiliated with the Silent No More awareness campaign, which has collected the stories of 17,000 women who have regrets, some who suffered infections and hysterectomies as a result of their abortions.
Next to her was Nancy Tanner, 64, who also carried a sign and a story of a regretted abortion. Hers was in 1984 at a Planned Parenthood facility. She said she is affiliated with an awareness campaign that has collected the stories of 17,000 women who have regrets, some who suffered infections and hysterectomies as a result. “I think common-sense minimum standards are really important,” Tanner said. “This is not about closing clinics at all.” She said it’s about making sure clinics are clean and have halls big enough to support a gurney should anything go wrong during a procedure.
“I think common sense minimum standards are really important,” Tanner said. Abortion providers say full implementation of the Texas law passed in 2013 would reduce the number of clinics in the state from 42 to 10.
Kristina Hernandez, a member of Students for Life of America, which is organizing the event, echoed that sentiment, arguing that’s the intent of the Texas legislation. “We can’t go back to the time when we didn’t have abortion access,” said Chi Nguyen, 25, of New York, holding up a corner of a quilt that took 10 people to carry.
“This truly is about protecting women,” she said. On it were 300,000 stitches sewn by women from 34 states and six countries. The goal, said Nguyen, the artist behind it, is to fill it with 5.4 million stitches, one for each woman of reproductive age in Texas.
Not to a group of women holding up a hand-sewn quilt. On it were 300,000 stitches sewn by women from 34 states and six countries. One of those women, Candice Russell, 32, who lives in Irving, said she has already felt the impact of the Texas regulations.
Artist Chi Nguyen, who grew up in Vietnam until she was 13, said the goal is to fill the quilt with 5.4 million stitches, one for each woman of reproductive age in Texas. “I had to travel 1,000 miles to get an abortion,” she said.
“We can’t go back to the time when we didn’t have abortion access,” she said. When she became pregnant in 2014, she faced long wait times for an appointment at a Dallas clinic and a two-appointment requirement, and so she took out a payday loan to supplement her administrative assistant salary and flew to California to obtain an abortion. “At least I was able to do that,” Russell said. “I know that’s not the case for everybody.”
Abortion rights supporters Kate Banfield and Heather Hardy said they spent Monday night in fold-out chairs in front of the court to secure their prime spots in line — Nos. 13 and 14. Marva Sadler, the director of clinical services for Whole Woman’s Health, said she was in Texas the day the law went into effect and saw clinics close overnight. She traveled from San Antonio on Tuesday night to speak at the rally.
“I feel really strongly we all need to be doing something to try and bring change, and you can’t bring change if you just sit at home,” said Banfield, 48, a mother of three who lives in San Francisco. “This is my life,” she said “There is no way I could not see this through. I’ve been through this entire fight, and I will see it through to the end.”
She was also one of the many women who chose to describe her abortion in the “friends of the court” briefs for the case. “Coming felt like the right thing, and now that I’m here I know it’s the right thing.” About 11 a.m., as arguments were nearing a close inside the building, a line of people still waited along the sidewalk to get inside. Some were tourists. Others were personally invested in the case. Two medical students wore hospital scrubs. All of them would get only three minutes inside. The line for those who got seats began days earlier.
Jessica González-Rojas, the executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health,spoke at the rally for abortion rights. Abortion rights supporters Kate Banfield and Heather Hardy spent Monday night in fold-out chairs in front of the court to secure their prime spots — Nos. 13 and 14.
“It’s critical to be here,” she said. “This case has both national implications and real implications for Latinas in Texas.” “I feel really strongly we all need to be doing something to try and bring change, and you can’t bring change if you just sit at home,” said Banfield, 48, a mother of three who lives in San Francisco. She was one of the many women who chose to describe her abortion in the “friends of the court” briefs for the case.
The majority of women of reproductive age in the state are Latina, González-Rojas said. “Coming felt like the right thing,” she said, “and now that I’m here, I know it’s the right thing.”
[Arguments in Supreme Court abortion case pitched to audience of one]
Marva Sadler, who traveled to Washington from San Antonio, also felt called to be present. As director of clinical services for Whole Woman’s Health, which is the lead counsel in the case, she said she was in Texas the day the law went into effect and saw clinics close overnight.
“There is no way I could not see this through,” she said. “I’ve been through this entire fight and I will see it through to the end.”
Dana Hedgpeth contributed to this report.Dana Hedgpeth contributed to this report.