PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — One day after abortion opponents gathered in Washington, D.C., for the annual March for Life rally, abortion rights activists are gathering there to have their voices heard. Both actions come on the 49th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which ensured a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy.
Legal access to abortion could be in jeopardy, however, as the Supreme Court is set to make some decisions a couple of cases that could affect the outcome of Roe v. Wade.
"This is a moment that I don't think people understand the gravity of," said abortion rights activist Sam Goldman. "This could be the last anniversary of Roe."
Goldman met some friends at Malcolm X Park in West Philadelphia before driving to Washington, D.C., in support of women's reproductive autonomy. She is one of the organizers of the nationwide Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights demonstration at the nation’s capital. And she said she is particularly concerned about two cases.
One is United States v. Texas, which considers a challenge to a restrictive abortion law in that state. "There is no Roe v. Wade anymore [in Texas]," says Goldman. "After six weeks [of pregnancy], you can no longer get an abortion in the state of Texas — before most people know they're pregnant."
Goldman also worries that the legality abortion could disappear as early as this spring, when the Supreme Court takes up Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which involves a Mississippi law that bans nearly all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
"We've already heard oral arguments. We've kind of seen the [justice's] hands, if you will, and how they responded or failed to respond; how the word 'women' was never used; how you had Amy Coney Barrett telling women, 'Why would you need an abortion if you could just get an adoption?'" she said.
Protester Koyuki Chen of Germantown said the way to protect women's rights is to take the same actions that were necessary to achieve them in the first place. "Nonviolently, politically standing in the street, declaring and saying we refuse to accept this kind of society," she said.
"At this point we are lucky that the majority of people in this country believe that women have the right to an abortion, however that can radically change. That’s why we need to be out in the streets."
Jay Smith said, while he can't have children himself, he joined the protest because he recognizes the impact of these pending cases.
"Choosing when to have children and how to have children is one of the most important rights people have," he said.
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The Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights protest comes just a day after the March for Life, also in Washington, D.C., where anti-abortion demonstrators rallied in favor of rolling back abortion rights. Around 2,000 Philadelphia Catholics attended the event. Opponents of abortion rights feel their goal is in reach.
"My hopes have been dashed many times, but I have never felt like this," said Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life.
Goldberg says protests are now more crucial than ever. As she puts it, the Supreme Court is chipping away at abortion rights by allowing Texas' abortion laws to stay in effect while they consider the case.
"We have a 6–3 Supreme Court that was cultivated for this day, for this purpose," Goldman said, "to eviscerate the rights of women."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.