Protesters gather outside Supreme Court in wake of decision to overturn Roe v. Wade

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, DC in wake of the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade Friday.

The ruling, unthinkable just a few years ago, was the culmination of decades of efforts by abortion opponents, made possible by an emboldened right side of the court fortified by three appointees of former President Donald Trump.
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Both sides predicted the fight over abortion would continue, in state capitals, in Washington and at the ballot box. Justice Clarence Thomas, part of Friday's majority, urged colleagues to overturn other high court rulings protecting same-sex marriage, gay sex and the use of contraceptives.

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"Just really a complete shock that something I had been taught since I was a kid, that's a part of my rights in this country, is now being taken away," said Zoe Belyavasky of Virginia.

Though there were quite a few people like Frankie Roskam from Illinois celebrating the ruling.



"I've been praying for this for many years and have been working hard with my family for decades to protect the life of the unborn," said Roskam.
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The Supreme Court ruled 5-4, in an opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito, who called Roe 'egregiously wrong from the start.'

Alito wrote that the Constitution "does not confer a right to abortion."

Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan dissented -- lamenting that millions of American women will lose a fundamental right because of the court's decision.

They wrote, "It says that from the very moment of fertilization, a woman has no rights to speak of... A state can force her to bring a pregnancy to term, even at the steepest personal and familial costs."
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Katea Stitt says she feels it's women like her who will suffer the most from this decision.



"Black women who we know are going to be the most harmed if this goes down. Poor women, Latinx women, immigrant women, Native American women -- these are going to be the people in the shadows trying to get illegal abortions," said Stitt.

Currently, 26 states are said to be certain or likely to ban abortions following the Supreme Court decision.

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