In front of Supreme Court, a nation divided on abortion drug

WASHINGTON — Hours before the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a major abortion case, advocates on either side of the debate began preparing for what they see as the most consequential court case since Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which ended the national right to an abortion.

Police informally estimated that about 600 to 700 individuals gathered outside the Supreme Court in the lead-up to oral arguments in a challenge to the Food and Drug Administration’s regulation of mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions.

First Street Northeast, which separates the Capitol from the Supreme Court, was blocked to road traffic, and a diverse but predominantly female crowd chanted, marched and blared music in support of and against abortion rights.

Abortion opponents gathered to the right of the steps, while abortion rights supporters mostly clustered to the left of the steps. Lily Allen’s song “F— You,” often used in protests, began blasting on loop at 10 a.m.

Earlier, Capitol Police said they had arrested 13 people on the Capitol grounds for allegedly blocking roads and a walkway ahead of the arguments. But most of the protests were peaceful, with some advocates traveling thousands of miles to witness the scene Tuesday.

The occasion attracted a colorful crowd. One woman dressed in a hooded robe held up a sign that read “The Grim Reaper loves the abortion pill.” Another individual dressed as Abe Lincoln held a tongue-in-cheek sign stating “Let the men decide.”

Abortion opponents

At least two women outside the Supreme Court used their own pregnancies to deliver a message.

Savannah Evans of Florida, who works for the anti-abortion group Live Action, said she arrived at 7:30 a.m.

“I do not want my child to grow up in a world that thinks that abortion is a woman’s right,” said Evans, who said she is nine months pregnant. The phrase “Human Too’ was written on her visible stomach. She said she was disappointed she and a friend had been unable to engage with protesters from the other side.

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