An immediate fallout followed last week’s leaked US Supreme Court opinion challenging the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling. That ruling protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to have an abortion.
Numerous points of view are on offer. Some focus on love. Others are angry. Social media’s having a field day.
Catholics, Catholicism and the Judiciary are targets for protesters. They all have their story.
Yet – provided nobody is violent, Catholic President Joe Biden is all but silent.
Abortion survivors’ stories
Abortion survivors have appeared on television offering hope to women facing unplanned pregnancies. Their testimonies speak of alternatives and lives filled with love:
“If you are facing an unplanned pregnancy right now, I would say I hope that our stories bring you hope.”
“There’s hope and there’s life sustaining options.”
“I was adopted and placed in a loving home where my mom didn’t have hope that she would ever have a family.”
“As we’ve survived those procedures, I hope … as our story was reclaimed, that yours and your child’s can be reclaimed too.”
Pro-choice response
One pro-choice group protesting against the leaked opinion is seeking support for rolling protests throughout this week.
Called Ruth Sent Us after the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg (pro abortion former Supreme Court Justice), the group is urging people to go on strike.
Using social media contacts, they are gauging support by asking signatories to complete a tick sheet about what they’ll be doing to support the cause.
Some of the options include going on strike – eg from work, school or unpaid work – and offering to help spread the word via social media contacts.
Protests are being called for.
A Twitter user, who offered to pray for the Ruth Sent Us group after they called for protests at Catholic churches and the homes of the judiciary on Mother’s Day, met strong opposition.
“Stuff your rosaries and your weaponised prayer. We will remain outraged after this weekend, so keep praying. We’ll be burning the Eucharist to show our disgust for the abuse Catholic Churches have condoned for centuries,” Ruth Sent Us tweeted.
“We rise up against a corrupt and illegitimate Supreme Court.”
The President’s position
The White House says Biden does not have an opinion on the use of protests to influence Supreme Court opinions.
“The President believes in peaceful protest.
“He believes that’s part of our democracy and part of the history of the United States and this country.
“But he also respects and understands the independence of the third branch of government, and — I mean, obviously, the Justice Department — but also the role of the Supreme Court and what they play.”
So long as people are peaceful in their approach, Biden’s not about to interfere. He hasn’t seen any violence yet, it seems.
Not everyone sees the world with his eyes, however.
“Promises to ‘burn the Eucharist’? Fighting words. This is NOT a peaceful protest,”says NewsBusters executive editor Tim Graham.
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