Steve Sallwasser of Arnold debates Brittany Nickens of Maplewood during competing rallies held outside Planned Parenthood of Missouri following the U.S. Supreme Court announcement overturning Roe v. Wade on Friday, June 24, 2022, in St. Louis. "It's immoral that six individuals decide our fates for us," said Nickens. "As far as I'm concerned, the fight is just beginning," said Sallwasser.
Robert Cohen, Post-Dispatch
U.S. Rep. Cori Bush (left) and St. Louis Alderman Christine Ingrassia react after embracing on Friday, June 24, 2022, moments after hearing the U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down federal Roe v. Wade abortion protections, ruling states can decide to grant them. The elected officials were at an event at Planned Parenthood of Missouri with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, in St. Louis.
ST. LOUIS — The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade brought swift reaction from residents here on Friday. A U.S. congresswoman sobbed in a room of advocates. Supporters of both sides clashed outside the state’s last abortion clinic. Hundreds took to the streets in outrage and defiance.
And, by day’s end, the fissures became clear in this region that is both an island of abortion access and a home to a deep well of anti-abortion sentiment.
“I feel numb,” said Mallory Schwarz, director of Pro-Choice Missouri. “We’ve been preparing for this moment. But how do you prepare for the loss of a fundamental right?”
The Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on Friday sent shockwaves through the greater St. Louis region, an island of abortion acc…
At the same time, abortion opponents called the ruling a historic win. “It’s something that the pro-life movement has been fighting for for close to 50 years,” said Sam Lee, director of Campaign Life Missouri.
The court’s decision announced Friday overturned the landmark 1973 ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion. And the decision has already begun to divide the St. Louis metro area, a region with deep Roman Catholic roots, situated on the border of two states of opposite political leanings. To the eastern side of the Mississippi River in Illinois, Planned Parenthood in Fairview Heights and the Hope Clinic for Women in Granite City are now two of the only abortion clinics left across a wide swath of the Midwest.
The emotions started early Friday inside Planned Parenthood’s clinic on Forest Park Avenue in St. Louis. A group of abortion-rights advocates and elected officials gathered for a panel on abortion access. The Supreme Court ruling had not yet been released.
“We are sitting in the last remaining abortion clinic in the state of Missouri,” Yamelsie Rodríguez, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, said minutes before the decision was made public.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, an appointee of President Joe Biden, called the clinic “perhaps the most important place I could be in America right now.”
“We’re going to fight to protect your care,” he said.
Just as the panel was ending, a murmur arose in the room. “It just dropped,” multiple attendees said.
U.S. Rep. Cori Bush read the news aloud from her phone to the small crowd gathered there. Then she laced her fingers together and rested her forehead on her hands for a moment. She stood and hugged St. Louis aldermen gathered around her.
“I cannot believe this,” she said. “I cannot believe this. I cannot believe this.”
Shortly after the decision came down, Planned Parenthood notified the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services that it was ceasing abortion care in the state, Rodríguez said on a call Friday afternoon. Planned Parenthood clinics in Missouri will stay open and still provide contraceptives, preventive care and testing for sexually transmitted infections, among other things.
“We have reached the end of the line for abortion care,” Rodríguez said. “And in Illinois, now more than ever, we’re preparing for an impending surge of patients we know is likely to come. Patients will now be forced to flee their home states for essential, fundamental abortion care.”
Meanwhile, anti-abortion backers said their efforts can’t stop with the high court’s ruling.
Lee, the Campaign Life Missouri director, said he is still concerned about other challenges from the abortion-rights movement, like suits in state court, or a ballot referendum. “The pro-life movement needs to be prepared for all of those things,” Lee said. “The battle isn’t over.”
“Our focus,” said Brian Westbrook, executive director of Maryland Heights-based Coalition Life, “will continue to shift into Illinois.”
The Archbishop of St. Louis, the Rev. Mitchell T. Rozanski, said the Catholic church would continue to bear witness “to the dignity of every human, regardless of religion, race, age or any other factor.”
“I urge all the faithful in our Archdiocese of St. Louis, now more than ever, to demonstrate compassion and provide support to those in need, with a special deference to mothers and children in need,” he said in a statement.
Emotions ran high. Just after noon, the two sides rallied side-by-side on the sidewalk outside of the Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis.
As a group of abortion opponents began speaking, Carla “Coffee” Wright began chanting over them, “Reproductive freedom requires action.” Others joined in.
After a moment, in place of the word “action,” Steve Sallwasser, electrical engineer, began shouting back, “life.”
The two groups screamed at each for 20 minutes.
As the hours passed, the initial shock over the ruling gave way to anger and defiance among abortion-rights supporters.
By 6 p.m., hundreds had gathered for a boisterous rally that began at Planned Parenthood’s St. Louis clinic, but later took to the streets in the Central West End neighborhood, led by a drummer.
“We’re provided our last abortion, for now,” Dr. Colleen McNicholas, Planned Parenthood’s regional chief medical officer, told the crowd. “This is injustice.”
The crowd chanted with and cheered the numerous speakers.
Then a girl who identified herself only as Precious took the mic. She told the group that health care is a human right, not a privilege.
“When I heard the news this morning, my heart shook,” she said. “I knew a war had begun.”
Bishop Michael McGovern chose pregnancy care after the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that legalized…
Steve Sallwasser of Arnold debates Brittany Nickens of Maplewood during competing rallies held outside Planned Parenthood of Missouri following the U.S. Supreme Court announcement overturning Roe v. Wade on Friday, June 24, 2022, in St. Louis. "It's immoral that six individuals decide our fates for us," said Nickens. "As far as I'm concerned, the fight is just beginning," said Sallwasser.
U.S. Rep. Cori Bush (left) and St. Louis Alderman Christine Ingrassia react after embracing on Friday, June 24, 2022, moments after hearing the U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down federal Roe v. Wade abortion protections, ruling states can decide to grant them. The elected officials were at an event at Planned Parenthood of Missouri with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, in St. Louis.