For many women defending Roe, 1973 decision is a living memory
| Washington; and Austin, Texas
鈥淚 cannot believe it鈥檚 the 21st century, and we have to fight this again,鈥� says Lauri Shreve, barely in her 60s, shaking her head in disbelief, in the shadow of the Washington Monument.
It was a sentiment repeated over and over Saturday, in hundreds of cities across the country, as abortion-rights protesters rallied. After nearly 50 years, the nationwide right to abortion appears set to end, following the recent leak of a draft ruling that would overturn the 1973 precedent, Roe v. Wade.听
For the first time in her life, Ms. Shreve says, 鈥淚 had to march.鈥� She and her husband, Randy, who own a landscaping business, traveled 2 1/2 hours from Cumberland, Maryland, to take part in the Washington protest.听
Why We Wrote This
It may seem like a paradox, but many of the women who turned out for abortion-rights protests this past weekend were beyond their childbearing years. One distinction: Some have memories of a pre-Roe America.
鈥淚 actually had to tell [my grown daughters] how important this was,鈥� Ms. Shreve says. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 see the big picture, that never before has a constitutional right been taken away.鈥�
The thousands who rallied near the monument and marched to the Supreme Court were a diverse group in many ways, including gender, age, and race. But perhaps most striking was the large number of 鈥渨omen of a certain age鈥� 鈥� those in their 50s and beyond. Women no longer in their childbearing years, but who felt so passionately about the possible demise of Roe that they had to do something public.听
Many younger women, of course, were here, too. Some came with friends, others with parents, husbands, partners, small children. A few were visibly pregnant, some making a point: They were having a baby by choice.听
But the large number of older women in the crowd points to a possible paradox: that older women who favor abortion rights, many with firsthand memories of life before Roe, may feel more intensely about the possible loss of that right than the women who could be directly affected.听
鈥淵ounger people didn鈥檛 grow up in a non-Roe world,鈥� says Jennifer Butler, a 50-something Presbyterian minister and outgoing CEO of the advocacy group Faith in Public Life, standing near the 鈥渇aith tent鈥� at Saturday鈥檚 鈥淏ans Off Our Bodies鈥� rally. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e always taken that right pretty much for granted.鈥澨�
For older American women, the memories can be visceral 鈥撎齮he illegal and sometimes dangerous abortions they or their friends had; the women who died from a botched abortion; the sadness and shame of giving birth as a teenager, then in some cases placing the baby for adoption; the fight to make abortion legal nationwide.听
Part of the paradox is that many polls show younger women are generally more supportive of abortion rights than older women. found that support for abortion rights at six weeks of pregnancy is strongest among the youngest women and declines with age 鈥� 61% among women ages 18 to 29 versus 38% among women over 65.听
Then there鈥檚 the importance of abortion as a 鈥渧oting issue.鈥� This could be critical in the November midterm elections, with Republicans 鈥� who typically oppose abortion rights 鈥� already with the wind at their backs. Combined Gallup data from between 2014 and 2021 show that among female voters age 55 and over who identify as 鈥減ro-life,鈥� 27% vote only for candidates who share their views; among women in this age cohort who consider themselves 鈥減ro-choice,鈥� the figure is 20%. But among younger voters, it鈥檚 women who identify as 鈥減ro-choice鈥� who say more often than their 鈥減ro-life鈥� sisters that they will vote only for candidates with whom they agree on abortion.
This raises the next question: Can Democrats use the overturning of Roe, expected听next month, as a tool to galvanize young voters 鈥� a cohort notorious for not turning out in midterms 鈥� to vote in the November midterm elections?
For now, abortion-rights advocates are working every demographic they can, and see ground for mutual learning 鈥� not just the older women teaching the younger about life before Roe, but also younger women teaching their elders about modern-day advocacy, including the use of technology and social media, and about the changing rhetoric.
鈥淪tudents are much more likely to talk about reproductive justice than abortion rights,鈥� says Laury Oaks, chair of the department of feminist studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. 鈥淚 want to focus on the unity, the coming together, the places of consensus over the places of difference.鈥澨�
Standing outside the Supreme Court after marching down the Mall in Washington on Saturday, two middle-aged women are discussing generational differences in approaches to activism on abortion.
鈥淭here are fewer young people here than I would have expected,鈥� says 50-something Samantha Shofar from Silver Spring, Maryland. 鈥淢aybe they鈥檙e just complacent.鈥澨�
Her friend Cindy Jacobs sees something larger at play.听
鈥淭here have been several years of things just eroding,鈥� says Ms. Jacobs, also in her 50s and from Silver Spring. 鈥淒emocracy is crumbling and rights are crumbling 鈥� and it鈥檚 leading to this path of something even worse.鈥澨�
Ms. Shofar鈥檚 25-year-old daughter is in Israel, she says 鈥撎齩therwise, she would have been here to protest. But her other child, who she says is nonbinary, 鈥渉as what I consider a very nihilistic view. And I think it could be somewhat typical of this generation. They don鈥檛 think anything good is going to happen.鈥�
The view from Austin
Patricia Kruger, standing on the grounds of the Texas Capitol in Austin on Saturday, holds a sign that says simply, 鈥�1973.鈥澨�
It is a reference to the year the Supreme Court found, in Roe v. Wade, that the Constitution鈥檚 concept of personal 鈥渓iberty鈥� protections included a woman鈥檚 right to choose abortion.听
Taking part in the Austin protest, where the crowd numbered in the hundreds, seemed to carry extra meaning: Roe was based on a Texas case, and in 2021, the so-called Texas Heartbeat Act dramatically curtailed the right to abortion in the state to about six weeks鈥� gestational age 鈥� far shorter than the 2018 Mississippi law that is currently before the court and the vehicle for Roe鈥檚 likely demise.听
To the protesters in Austin, as elsewhere in the country, the message is simple.听
鈥淚 have a daughter, and I think it鈥檚 important to fight for her future,鈥� Ms. Kruger says, noting that her views haven鈥檛 changed over time.听She recalls writing a 鈥減ro-choice鈥� article in high school 30 years ago.
鈥淲e鈥檝e come a long way since then 鈥� but we鈥檙e moving backwards, and this is a very scary time,鈥� Ms. Kruger says.听
Some of the women here are old enough to remember friends going out of state 鈥� or out of the country 鈥� for an abortion.
鈥淲hen I was in high school in Ohio, I had a friend who got pregnant despite being careful, and they had to go to New York because it wasn鈥檛 legal in Ohio,鈥� says protester Carol Goodwin.听
Bonnie, a University of Texas grad who declined to give her last name, shares a similar story: 鈥淚 had a roommate at college who had to go to Mexico to get an abortion, and it was very dangerous.鈥澨�
There鈥檚 also nuance to protesters鈥� views.听
鈥淚鈥檓 disabled, and the concept of carrying a pregnancy to term is not viable for me,鈥� says Caitlin Dalton.听
鈥淲e look at abortion as one thing; it鈥檚 about aborting this potential life,鈥� she adds, tugging at the grass as she talks. 鈥淚 understand people who feel sincerely about that. But I want people to understand this will affect many different things; it will lead to many other dangerous things.鈥澨�
Her mother, Tiffany Almeida, seems to have a more brass-tacks approach: 鈥淲omen are waking up,鈥� she says, suggesting that 鈥渨omen start taking their money and their skills out of states they don鈥檛 agree with.鈥�
A first time protesting in Washington
Back in Washington, 60-something Julie is wearing the pink hat she wore at her hometown women鈥檚 march back in January 2017.听
She asks to withhold her last name, out of fear that protesters 鈥渨ill look me up.鈥� And for the record, she says she opposes the protesters who have shown up at the homes of conservative Supreme Court justices over the expected overturning of Roe. Others at the march make the same point.听
This is the first Washington protest Julie has ever attended.听
鈥淚鈥檝e never felt like I had to,鈥� Julie says, mentioning that she had a medically unsustainable pregnancy that had to be terminated, before having her son. 鈥淚鈥檓 not for abortion, but I鈥檓 not against it. I鈥檓 for the right to choose. ... Just being able to make our choices about our bodies. And it鈥檚 a lot more than just a physical body. It鈥檚 your mental state. It鈥檚 your family situation. It鈥檚 your financial situation.鈥�
Marge Matthews, who鈥檚 in her 80s and here with her 60-something daughter, is a veteran of marches 鈥� against the Vietnam War and for women鈥檚 rights. Her observation of how younger protesters are behaving at the march: 鈥淭hey鈥檙e more outspoken. They say it like it is 鈥� dirty language and all.鈥�
听
Indeed, many of the homemade posters on display here are not suitable for a family newspaper.听听
But generational change is inevitable. The organization Faith in Public Life is about to get a new CEO, as Ms. Butler shifts to 鈥渇ounder-in-residence.鈥澨�
Jeann茅 Lewis, who is in her early 40s and Roman Catholic, will take over on June 1. She seems excited about the possibilities 鈥� of seeing people of faith who support abortion rights come to the fore and discover their agency in the event that Roe is overturned.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of mythology around who鈥檚 having an abortion and why,鈥� she says. And the move in some states to ban abortion without exceptions for rape and incest, she adds, is only pushing more people into their camp.
She says that 1 in 4 women have had or will have an abortion, and the majority are mothers, or will be mothers.
鈥淚鈥檓 not sure that everyone is clear about the implications鈥澨齩f the Supreme Court鈥檚 pending action, Ms. Lewis says. 鈥淚 have never lived in a world without Roe v. Wade. And because there鈥檚 still so much stigma attached to having an abortion, there aren鈥檛 a lot of narratives.鈥�
