Hundreds of Roe v. Wade supporters in Philly protest a ‘worst nightmare’ for abortion rights

Carrying signs and coat hangers, several hundred protesters — on foot, some wheeling bikes, some accompanied by babies and dogs — marched between the federal courthouse in Philadelphia and City Hall to rally against what one speaker called “our worst nightmare,” the potential reversal of the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision.

The protesters chanted “Women’s right are human rights” and carried placards that read “Bans off our bodies” and “Leave my vagina alone” in what almost certainly was the city’s most vigorous protest ever against a Supreme Court opinion that had not yet been handed down.

But the Politico report late Monday of the private Supreme Court vote and the leaked opinion that would overturn the 1973 decision that provided constitutional protection for women seeking abortion stimulated a rash of protests locally and across the nation.

“Some of us were sleeping last night and woke up to our worst nightmare,” City Councilmember Kendra Brooks said at the City Hall rally.

» READ MORE: Photos from the abortion-rights rally and march

The protest was decidedly intergenerational.

Among the marchers was 27-year-old Philadelphian Allie Fishman, who said she was devastated by the news. As someone who has had an abortion, she said, “It is hard, and for them not to provide somewhere that is safe, or have an outlet to do that, it’s just disappointing.”

Debbie Schultz, 72, of Center City, said she protested for abortion rights in the ‘70s after the Roe v. Wade decision. Now, she was at City Hall protesting again. She said she was glad that Sarah Weddington, who represented “Jane Roe” in the famous case, wasn’t alive to experience this potential turnabout. “She would be appalled,” Schultz said.

For 32-year-old Greg Glowacki, who lives in Bucks County, this was a first: He had never attended a protest. Glowacki’s wife was home, pregnant with their second child, and they have a 2-year-old daughter. “I want her to have the choice,” he said. “I want her to be free.”

Karen Harmelin, 46, of Mount Airy, brought one of her two sons, Nico Tropea, 11, to the protest. “It’s important for me for them to know that this means freedom for men, not just freedom for women,” she said.

» READ MORE: Women at St. Joe's wrestle with the potential Supreme Court decision

The protesters had gathered at the James A. Byrne U.S. Courthouse, at Sixth and Market Streets, about 5:30 p.m. and were led to City Hall along Market Street, closing off the westbound lane, by the Rev. Nicolas O’Rourke.

“This is what movement looks like,” he said. At least one antiabortion heckler taunted the marchers as they proceeded along Market Street.

One counter-protester, Angel Pedraza, of North Philadelphia, said he was “devastated” by the show of support for Roe. Save our babies!” Pedraza shouted feet away from the federal courthouse on Market Street. “God has given you a gift, of life. Kids can be adopted.”

But not clashes or incidents were reported.

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The signs — “Against Abortion? Then Don’t Have One!” and “We Won’t Go Back” — were plentiful, as was the chanting: “Hey hey, ho ho, take to the streets and defend Roe.”

“Abortion is basic health care,” reproductive rights organizer Samantha Pheiffer told the group at City Hall. “Abortion should be free and on demand for anyone who wants it.”

The rally ended about 8 p.m. after the marchers — spanning two blocks — returned to the courthouse.

The rally was one of several held around the region, including one at Cathedral Village, a retirement community in Roxborough., where Joel Chinetz, 84, recalled his days as a medical student, working at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn.

Chinetz was among about 25 who gathered at an evening vigil. Given COVID-19 concerns, they decided not to join the downtown events.

Chinetz remembered horrible nights in late 1959 to early 1960 when women would show up in the emergency department bleeding from their vaginas.

“People in Brooklyn, they would use a wire to start the bleeding,” he recalled. “Then they had to have it completed,” which brought them to the hospital, said Chinetz, who went on to become a nephrologist.

“I don’t want to see that again,” he said.

Staff writers Ximena Conde, Max M. Marin, and Harold Brubaker contributed to this article.