Abortion Debate: A Clash of Signs and Chants

Hundreds of angry and emotional activists clashed in an often confrontational battle waged with signs, chants and slogans on the steps of the Supreme Court Wednesday, while nine justices inside the building weighed arguments on abortion in a somber session.

As lawyers meticulously presented their arguments in the marble-lined courtroom, those on the outside tried to take their cases directly to the American people via television cameras and reporters.

Police estimated the crowd at between 300 and 400, some of whom had waited all night for a chance to get one of the scarce 60 seats open to the public in the courtroom. Others traveled from as far away as California and Texas to express their views on the controversial issue.

Screaming Matches

Signs proclaiming “God Avenges Innocent Blood” and “Keep Abortion Legal” sparked heated confrontations among protesters, which often turned into screaming matches with fists and signs waving.

“Abortion tears the heads off of babies,” Tennessee activist Dan Martino bellowed.

“What about the woman?” New York protester Gavrielle Gemma shouted in reply.

The emotional gathering peaked when police arrested 27 students who had pushed their way through a police barricade and onto the plaza in front of the court, where they chanted “pro-choice, pro-choice” and danced in a chorus line.

A spokesman for the group, Oppression Under Target, said that they wanted to be arrested as an act of civil disobedience. Wearing strips of red crepe paper to symbolize the “red tape” of government bureaucracy, the protesters were dragged away.

A court spokesman said that the 18 women and 9 men were arrested for crossing police lines. All of the protesters paid $100 fines and were released.

Over and over again, protesters favoring the right to abortion screamed, “Two, four, six, eight--you can’t make us procreate” and “Hey, Hey. Ho, Ho. Anti-choice has got to go.” Anti-abortion advocates countered with “Stop the baby killing” and “Abortion is murder.”

The chants grew louder and louder as demonstrators on each side tried to drown out the other and make their voices heard inside the court.

One woman carrying a sign that proclaimed, “Pro-life, what a lie, you don’t care if women die,” said that “nobody can make me carry a baby to term” and demanded that her body should not be “enslaved to the Catholic church.”

Although outnumbered at first, anti-abortion protesters arrived in greater numbers as the morning went on, waving signs, carrying banners and screaming into megaphones.

He’s Standing Up for Life

Tennessee activist Martino, who said that he was “here with the Lord Jesus Christ to stand up for life,” was carrying a sign plastered with pictures of aborted fetuses and the slogan “U.S. Supreme Court: Almighty God is Watching You.”

The potentially landmark case centers on a Missouri law that restricts abortion and declares that life begins at conception. The court is not expected to issue a decision until the term ends sometime around July 1.

More than 200 people from both sides of the argument came to the court Tuesday night with chairs, sleeping bags, pillows and food so that they could have a chance to hear the arguments inside the court.

Supreme Court police gave each early arrival a numbered card. Bleary-eyed and with aching backs, only a third of the group was let into the courtroom at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Recent UCLA graduates Cheryl Guerin and Sherry Paul arrived at the court at 9 p.m. Tuesday with their blankets and pillows. After hearing the arguments Wednesday, both said that it was well worth the wait.

“It was disappointing for the pro-choice side,” Guerin said. “(Justice Thurgood) Marshall did not open his mouth. He just sat there. It was also so male dominated in there. The word ‘she’ hardly came up.”

Dartmouth student Joyce Campbell spent 11 hours at the court waiting in line and said that she was “overwhelmed by the experience.” Campbell, who is working in the Senate, said that the “pro-choice argument seemed pretty weak.”

Travis and Ann Thigpen, who live in nearby Virginia, said that the overnight wait was worth it, even though they didn’t get in to see the arguments. “We came up here to go to dinner,” Thigpen said. “We found out they were letting people in so we stayed. I really think that Roe vs. Wade will be overturned,” he said.

More Emotional Level

But while lawyers for both sides debated the finer points of constitutional law, protesters in front of the court fought on a more emotional level.

Michelle Robinson, a 27-year-old lobbyist from Virginia, said she was concerned that the court will restrict abortions and vowed to “quit my job and fight for the rest of my life to save this right.”

Terry Wykoff, 35, traveled from New York to participate in a 12-hour prayer vigil on the steps of the court. Starting at midnight Tuesday, Wykoff and a dozen other people lit candles and prayed that Roe vs. Wade would be overturned.

“The Supreme Court will decide on the side of life,” she said confidently, pointing to her Operation Rescue sweatshirt. “The fate of millions of children are in their hands.”