Roe V. Wade Overturned: 3 Women, 3 Outlooks on Abortion

WASHINGTON, DC — A large crowd of anti-abortion and abortion rights demonstrators gathered outside the U.S. Supreme Court early Friday afternoon in response to news that the justices had voted 6-3 to strike down Roe V. Wade.

Although the action had been anticipated since Justice Samuel Alito Jr.'s majority opinion draft was leaked to Politico, many in the crowd expressed surprise, while others said they felt elation, disappointment and anger.

Although the ruling on the Dobbs case was 6-3, the decision to strike down Roe and Casey was 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing a concurring opinion that said overturning the landmark statute went too far.

Most of the protesters congregating in front of the Supreme Court Building were there to advocate for abortion rights. But, anti-abortion advocates were there too, moving along the fringes of the crowd, expressing their views and answering questions from the media.

Claire Qin of Lexington, Kentucky was disappointed by Friday's 6-3 decision by the high court. She came to share how abortion saved her mother's life.

"I feel like people like my mom deserve to have their stories heard instead of just being another citizen," Qi told Patch.

"The first time my mom had abortion, it was because of financial situations. My parents are immigrants. They wouldn't have been able to raise a child at all. They were already extremely poor.

"The second time it was medical complications. If she had the child, she would have died. I was like 5 when she did that. I remember her just breaking down. It was not an easy decision. ... It was taxing on her body, but she had to do it because she has a right to her body and she has a right to life."

Emma Craig of Pro-Life San Francisco said she felt ecstatic about the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe V. Wade.

"I think we knew this was coming, certainly, but actually seeing it go through, it's a big day for us pro lifers. They've been fighting for this for 60 years," Craig told Patch.

"There's a group of us out here representing different pro-life organizations from all over the country, like Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, Pro-Life San Francisco, and Students for Life.

"I see a lot of pain and anger from the pro-abortion side, and I feel for that. I just think that they have been lied to. I have compassion for these women and men for that matter, but mostly for the women. I think they've been lied to by our culture and told that a baby is not a baby, that it's a clump of cells, and that our liberation has to be bought with the blood of our offspring."

Michelle Peterson Washington, D.C., came to the U.S. Supreme Court Friday to watch history being made with the overturning of Roe. V. Wade.

"I feel like something has been taken away from me. I have to go back home to my home state of Nebraska in August and going back there and knowing that I am not a full citizen in the eyes of their law is really something I never thought I would experience."

Related: Roe V. Wade Overturned; Abortion Still Legal In DC

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