The depth of excitement unleashed by Friday’s decision sparked protests and prayer vigils across the country, with Arizona lawmakers even hiding in a basement for a while as police fired tear gas at a crowd.
In Charleston, West Virginia, at least 200 abortion advocates gathered Friday night for a candlelight vigil in federal court after the state’s last abortion clinic was forced to cancel all your appointments.
Mitzi Rivas, on the left, hugs her daughter Maya Iribarren during a protest for abortion rights in San Francisco City Hall following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Friday, June 24, 2022. (AP Photo / Josie Lepe) (AP))
Katie Quinonez, executive director of the West Virginia Women’s Health Center, told the crowd that she threw her phone against the wall of her office when she learned that Roe v. Wade had been annulled after nearly 50 years. Her staff called 70 patients scheduled over the next month “to tell them their abortion was canceled and we should send them out of state, and that’s it.”
Quinónez promised that the fight for the right to abortion will continue: “This is not the end at all … Tonight we cry, we get angry. Tomorrow we get to work.”
In Arizona, thousands of protesters, divided among those who support and oppose abortion rights, gathered in front of the state Capitol on Friday night. Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck.
Arizona clinics stopped having abortions after the decision, as did those in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Women considering abortion had already been facing an almost total ban in Oklahoma and a ban after about six weeks in Texas.
People are attending an abortion rights protest at the Utah State Capitol on Friday, June 24, 2022, in Salt Lake City. (Photo by AP / Rick Bowmer) (AP)
In Ohio, banning most abortions from the first detectable fetal heartbeat became law when a federal judge dissolved a court order that had kept the measure pending for nearly three years. Another law with reduced exceptions was triggered by the sentencing in Utah and went into effect.
The only Mississippi abortion clinic, which was at the center of the case before the Supreme Court, continued to see patients Friday. Outside, men used a megabyte to tell people inside that they would burn in hell. Clinic escorts wearing colorful vests wore large speakers to hear Tom Petty’s “And I Won’t Go Back” against protesters.
The ruling is likely to lead to a ban on abortion in about half of the states, and people on both sides of the issue predicted that the fight would continue.
In Minnesota, where abortion is still legal, Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order to help protect people seeking or offering abortions in their state from facing legal consequences in other states. In neighboring South and North Dakota, the Supreme Court ruling resulted in an immediate ban on abortion and one that will take effect in 30 days, respectively.
An abortion rights activist reacts before the Washington Supreme Court on Friday, June 24, 2022. (AP)
Walz has also pledged to reject extradition requests from anyone accused of committing acts related to reproductive health care other than crimes in Minnesota.
“My office has been and will continue to be a firewall against legislation that would reverse reproductive freedom,” he said.
In Fargo, North Dakota, the state’s only abortion provider plans to move across the river to Minnesota. Red River women’s clinic owner Tammi Kromenaker said Saturday a location in Moorhead has been secured, but gave no further details.
Thirteen states, mostly in the south and midwest, already had laws banning abortion in case Roe was overturned. Another half a dozen states have bans or near-total bans after 6 weeks, before many women know they are pregnant.
In about half a dozen states, including West Virginia and Wisconsin, the fight will be for latent abortion bans that were enacted before Roe was decided in 1973 or new proposals to drastically limit when abortions can be performed.
Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers told The Associated Press on Saturday that he will support legal action to repeal a 173-year-old state ban on abortion. He also said he would not appoint district prosecutors who will enforce the law and commute prison sentences for anyone convicted of that law.
“We’re looking at it all,” he said.
Four years after winning the election by a narrow margin, Evers said he believes this issue will give energy to independents and that he hopes to translate anger over Roe’s disappearance into votes this fall.
“Every time you take half the people of Wisconsin and turn them into second-class citizens, I have to believe there will be a backlash,” Evers said.