‘Most consequential ruling’: Charlotte area reacts to fall of Roe v. Wade abortion ruling
After weeks of speculation, the Supreme Court overturned landmark abortion rights ruling Roe v. Wade Friday, triggering immediate outcry across the Charlotte region.
Activists on both sides in Charlotte have been expecting the decision for weeks, since a leaked draft opinion from Justice Samuel Alito dropped in May.
At the Preferred Women’s Health Center Friday morning on Latrobe Street, about 10 anti-abortion protesters arrived soon after the decision, clinic executive director Calla Hales told The Charlotte Observer.
“This is not a moment to give up,” Hales said. “It’s a moment to reflect and let all this rage radicalize you to just keep going to do something better and push for more rights.”
Loudspeakers and a cowbell
Outside the Latrobe clinic, there were rainbow-clad clinic volunteers and anti-abortion protesters holding signs depicting fetuses.
In a gravel parking lot near the clinic, one protester had a microphone and loudspeaker, asking people to turn around.
In front of her, a clinic volunteer rang a cowbell loudly as she spoke. Another volunteer held a sign directing patients past the protesters to parking, and was beating a tambourine
Protester Cassia Wachsmann brought her 13-year-old son Levi. Wachsmann said she grew up going to abortion clinic protests and wanted to raise her children the same way.
”It’s a conviction,” she said. “That if I love Jesus and I love these women and these babies, then I should be out here.”
A handful of anti-abortion protesters dressed in blue gathered over at the Charlotte Planned Parenthood on South Torrence Street Friday afternoon. Some were wearing blue vests, similar to vests worn by clinic volunteers at various abortion clinics.
The protesters declined to speak with reporters. No clinic volunteers were present at Planned Parenthood Friday afternoon; the clinic performs abortions just two days a week.
Abortions remain legal in North Carolina. And with Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper not facing a veto-proof Republican-led legislature, that will likely hold for now.
Divided debate online and around town
The news continued to reverberate around the Charlotte region, with opinions shared everywhere from social media to local coffee shops.
Charlotte Bishop Peter Jugis, in calling for unity, told the Catholic News Herald: “I invite everyone to join me in praying for the conversion of hearts, so that our communities might come together to protect and support both mother and child at every stage of life.”
Asheton Brown took to Twitter to say how abortion-rights proponents “screamed that the federal gov’t has no say in what a woman does with her body but the moment they acknowledge this by overturning roe v wade & wiping their hands clean of the overreach of power y’all wanna riot because it’s not how you thought it would happen.”
And Regan Long of Lake Norman tweeted: “And ALL of Heaven is rejoicing right now Roe v Wade is OVERRULED!!! Now, my friends, celebrate, celebrate, celebrate!!!! But know: All of hell is about to be unleashed.”
Others condemned the decision.
Darrien Wheeler found out about the decision on Instagram. “It’s confusing, it’s upsetting, it’s scary and I just feel really worried and unsure of what comes next,” Wheeler said at JackBeagles bar and restaurant on Morehead Street.
At Undercurrent Coffee in Plaza Midwood, Stephanie Fauvlas, a single mom of a 3-year-old, was dismayed by the ruling. Still, she added, “I couldn’t imagine being forced to make that decision (to have an abortion), as hard as it is.”
And Katrina Brown said she knows several women who have had abortions, including her stepsisters. That was a decision that should remain with them, Brown said, not the government.
Bulletproof vests under consideration
The fall of Roe V. Wade may lead to clinic-escorts in North Carolina using bulletproof vests, said Brooke Adams, president of the Reproductive Rights Coalition in Charlotte.
She worries clinics may see some violence, and referenced the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
Clinic escorts are reviewing their safety protocols, according to Adams. Already when someone volunteers, they give their blood type in case of an emergency, she said. “I think people know that there’s always a risk of that (violence).”
Libba Moore, a 30-year-old who works at a local nonprofit, said she knew a couple girls in high school who had abortions, and that there was a lot of shame and guilt around their decisions. Now she’s working to be a volunteer escort at Planned Parenthood.
She wants to help make “them feel safe and confident in their choice, whatever they decide to do.”
Staff writers Lorenza Medley, Charlotte Kramon, Melissa Oyler and Gabe Castro-Root contributed to this report
This story was originally published June 24, 2022 at 10:37 AM.
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