“Welcome to Post-Roe America v. Wade,” shouted a young man opposed to abortion with jubilation and intensity, outside the United States Supreme Court building in Washington.
Saturday morning, he celebrated, with a group of activists from across the country, the invalidation of this decision of the highest American court which had, in 1973, protected the right of women to abortion – until Friday.
“But the work has only just begun”, however warns Valentina Aaron, who came from Indiana to celebrate the legal victory rendered 6 against 3 on Friday.
Because the judgment only puts back in the hands of the States the power to govern abortion, which is still possible in many of them, recalls the 19-year-old young woman, who quoted verses from the Bible in her speech.
“Yesterday we had a win. But we will fight until it is illegal in all states, ”said a man who grabbed the microphone installed by his colleagues.
State prosecutors must enforce the law and ensure that illegal abortions do not take place, adds Mark Lee Dickson, who came from Texas for the occasion. We must also prevent the “sanctuary cities”, which protect abortion, from multiplying, added in an interview the activist who is the director of the group Right to Life East Texas.
“We are the Post-Roe generation! shouted the demonstrators enthusiastically, smiling.
But fewer than the pro-abortion protesters on Saturday noon at the usual gathering place for demonstrators, on the street between the Supreme Court and the Capitol, they were quickly surrounded by the latter, who tried to bury their speeches with their own songs “My body my choice”.
“It’s not your body,” yelled a young anti-abortion woman. Because it’s not you who will be injected with a liquid that will cause your heart to stop beating! »
The atmosphere became highly heated as long as the two groups were facing each other, leading to numerous verbal altercations, sometimes very aggressive.
Older women, a little behind, watched with horror and incomprehension the younger ones confronting each other.
It is not finished
Abortion will continue to divide the nation as both sides promise to continue their work.
Those who came to protest against the Supreme Court’s decision on Friday promised not to give up.
“We will counter-attack” they chanted.
Bridget and Meredith, both in their 60s, were taking part in their first ever protest. “To tell you how important it is,” they explained. “People need to get out of their homes and go vote,” Meredith insisted. We must elect representatives who will protect women’s rights and who will not make us go back, argues Jennifer McAllister of Maryland.
On Friday, US President Joe Biden also said that in the November midterm elections, “Roe will be on the ballot”, signaling that he was going to bet on this issue to rally Democratic voters.
Friday’s judgment is final, and cannot be overturned. To have a different result, the Court would have to agree to hear another challenge to a law restricting abortion and render another – and very different – judgment of principle. Which will only happen when there are more Democrats than Republicans on the bench, activists say.
In the meantime, the watchword among the pro-abortion was: mobilization.
“We have to mobilize and we have to fight,” said 57-year-old Susan Prolman. For her, the right to abortion must be enshrined in black and white in the Constitution, “otherwise human rights will continue to be violated. She does not expect a rapid reversal of the situation: “we are going to live 30 to 40 dangerous years”.
Erin Lausch has had enough. The 41-year-old wants to leave the United States before it’s too late. “I don’t want to live in a place where people’s rights are taken away like this anymore. I am afraid that democracy will collapse”.
According to Joe, a 30-year-old resident of Michigan, “the will of the citizens no longer means anything”, he sighed, pointing out that the majority of Americans are in favor of a right to abortion.
He warns his northern neighbors: “Don’t think it can’t happen to you. We didn’t believe it here either. And see what happened”.
This report was financed thanks to the support of the Transat-Le Devoir International Journalism Fund.