Abortion decision: ‘I owe my life to my abortion-vulnerable parents’
Thousands gather outside US Supreme Court as it hears case challenging Roe vs. Wade in what could be the most controversial decision in 50 years.
Thousands of Americans gathered for hours outside the Supreme Court in Washington on Wednesday to support or condemn abortion rights in the US, as the nation’s nine top judges began to hear what could be the most controversial case in half a century.
On a crisp, C13 day as many as 5,000 activists and ordinary Americans stood at the steps of the gleaming white courthouse, waving placards amid the din of impassioned, contradictory speeches, as the Supreme Court debated whether the state of Mississippi could restrict the right to abortion to the first 15 weeks.
A verdict wasn’t expected until next year but the prospect of a reversal of the constitutional right to abortion established in 1973, has drawn condemnation from the President and Vice President and opened old wounds among Republicans, Democrats, and religious groups and states.
“I have a history of abortion in my family; I had a sibling who died by it,” Krista Corbello, 29, from Los Angeles, told The Australian from outside the court, as millions of Americans listened live to the sometimes complicated debate about precedent and the constitution taking place inside.
“My parents were immigrants, they were ‘abortion-vulnerable’; they tried to coerce my mum into having an abortion but she chose not to for me, so I owe my life to her,” Ms Corbello added.
The throng attracted equally passionate supporters of the status quo, which has given women in the US the right to an abortion on demand up to 24 weeks of pregnancy since the 1973 Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision.
“I’m very concerned, and not just about this court but states have been putting in horrific rules, I need to show up for a cause I believe in,” said, Coleen, 42, from Seattle, holding a ‘Catholic women for abortion rights’ sign.
Supporters of abortion rights fear the newly conservative Supreme Court, following three appointments by former president Donald Trump, will in effect give the fifty US states, 12 of whom have passed laws to restrict abortion immediately if Roe is overturned, the final say over abortion.
“We’re seeing the impact of what the 2016 election really did,” Coleen added, referring to President Trump’s appointments, including the replacement of progressive justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died in 2020, with Amy Coney Barratt.
“Why is 15 weeks not enough time? [for a woman to decide to have an abortion]”, Chief Justice John Roberts asked, suggesting 15 weeks was “the standard that the vast majority of other countries have” including China and North Korea.
Over two hours of debate judges weighed up when babies become “viable” as humans, whether overturning a previous decision, even a legally poor one, was worth the political blowback and social unrest, and whether giving up babies at birth was such an impost.
Law experts expected the case, called Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organisation, would see the overturn of Roe given the new 6 to 3 conservative make up of the court, and the sceptical tone of questioning in Wednesday’s session.
“The Constitution is neutral, that this Court should be scrupulously neutral on the question of abortion, neither pro-choice nor pro-life,” said Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who Mr Trump appointed in 2018.
Liberty University, an evangelical university 3 hours drive away in Virginia sent 23 bus loads of university students to support the ‘pro-life’ cause.
“This is a very vocal minority who is very good at showing up; it’s the same sort of people who say the gays are going to hell,” Colleen, from Seattle, said.
Almost 630,000 legal abortions were reported to authorities in 2019, up slightly from 2018 but overall part of a downward trend since 2010. Almost 93 per cent of them occurred before 13 weeks, according to the Centre for Disease Control.
TJ Burgess, 19, from New Orleans, said he wanted men to be more involved “informed defenders of life”.
“In 2018 I founded my own organisation Men for Life; there’s a lack of clarity surrounding men,” he said.
“I’m very hopeful in ideal circumstances we’ll establish a right to life, but if we could just make changes to Roe that would be good,” he added.
President Joe Biden restated his support for Roe v Wade on Wednesday, having repeatedly condemned Texas, the second-biggest US state, for in effect banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, in May.
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