The radicals supporting abortion rights went so far as to demonstrate outside the homes of conservative Supreme Court justices over the weekend. Their anger was ignited by the leaked opinion that indicated the possible reversal of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
On Saturday, a mob gathered in the rain outside of the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The group that organized the descent on this private home was Shutdown DC. They posted on Twitter that approximately 100 protestors came to protest outside of Kavanaugh’s home, they were also at the home of Chief Justice John Roberts.
They began their protest at a local café in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and then they marched to the homes of Roberts and Kavanaugh. They came with flyers stating that they were protesting for “reproductive freedom,” and they were chanting “Keep abortion safe and legal,” and “Keep your rosaries off our ovaries” at the gatherings. They also drew images of coat hangers with chalk on the street where the march took place.
A portion of those protesting at Justice Kavanaugh’s house was organized by his neighbor, Lacie Wooten-Holway. She told The Washington Post, “I organize peaceful candlelit vigils in front of his house. … We’re about to get doomsday, so I’m not going to be civil to that man at all.”
This was not the only protest that Shutdown DC is organizing. They are advertising another demonstration for Monday night outside the home of Justice Samuel Alito, the one who wrote the draft of the opinion. On their website, the group said that they will hold a candlelight vigil for the rights that Alito is threatening to take away. The website also stated that speakers will share “testimonies.”
The rationale they used for staging this protest at his home is because it has been “impossible to reach” Justice Alito at the Supreme Court. They plan to stand at the foot of his driveway in the public street, light candles, and share their stories.
Shutdown DC wrote this about Justice Alito’s draft opinion, “Justice Alito’s draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade is beyond alarming. It would not only allow states to outlaw abortion (which is already de facto unavailable to many who need it, particularly people from marginalized communities) but could also be used to allow states to outlaw contraception, same-sex marriage, protections for LGBTQ folks, and even interracial marriage.”
There is another radical abortion rights group called Ruth Sent Us. They are promoting a “walk-by” on Wednesday of this week at several conservative Justices’ homes in Virginia and Maryland.
Things are heating up at the Supreme Court as well. They are putting up high fencing outside of the High Court because of several nights of protests that have happened since the opinion was leaked to the press. These barriers are similar to the panels and fencing that were built around the United States Capitol building after the January 6th riot.
The White House remained silent about the protests at the Supreme Court Justices’ homes. But finally, on Monday of this week, the White House condemned “violence, threats, or vandalism” from protesters going to private homes. White House press secretary Jen Psaki noted that the Biden administration supports the right to protest but she finally said that justices should not have to fear for their safety.
“@POTUS strongly believes in the Constitutional right to protest. But that should never include violence, threats, or vandalism. Judges perform an incredibly important function in our society, and they must be able to do their jobs without concern for their personal safety,” Psaki posted in a Monday morning tweet.
So at least the White House is saying something about these radical protests, as mild as that was…
