Pro-Abortion Activists Target Nancy Pelosi’s House, Slam Her ‘Careless, Cowardly’ Representation

Ever since last week, in a leaked draft opinion from the US Supreme Court, the justices voted potentially to overturn the landmark Roe v Wade decision that "protects a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction,” pro-abortion activists have been protesting at the homes of Supreme Court justices.

Pro-abortion activists have targeted the San Francisco home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

The outfit, Ruth Sent Us, announced on Tuesday that protesters from multiple pro-choice groups would demand that Pelosi "investigate the corrupt justices" and "save abortion".

The name of the group is a reference to late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was noteworthy for "strongly endorsing abortion rights” in a Supreme Court confirmation hearing back in 1993. The pro-choice group posted a succession of tweets, denouncing the House Speaker for "careless and cowardly" representation in the face of the Republican Party’s "scorched earth strategy".

The pro-abortion activists claimed that Pelosi had “passed endless Bills that lay (sic) on [Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s] desk.”

Through Herculean efforts of grassroots volunteers, @SpeakerPelosi was reinstated in 2019. She held ZERO hearings into Kavanaugh’s crimes and perjury. Imagine if she had. Would this creep be on the Court, daring to overturn Roe? 4/x pic.twitter.com/kmIBva29HZ

— Ruth Sent Us 🪧 (@RuthSentUs) May 10, 2022

They also claimed that after Pelosi had been reinstated in her position in 2019 through “efforts of grassroots volunteers,” she held “ZERO hearings” into Brett Kavanaugh.

The group's Twitter post included a flier for the protest action, branding Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett "liars."

Ruth Sent Us have been protesting at Roman Catholic churches and the homes of justices since Politico published a draft Supreme Court ruling, revealing that a majority of the justices had voted to overturn the landmark nearly 50-year-old precedent Roe v Wade. Although the Supreme Court conceded that the leaked document was “authentic,” it emphasised that it is not a final decision by the court.

If the court's 1973 ruling in the Roe v Wade case that allowed abortion throughout the United States without excessive government restrictions were to be overturned, it would have a major affect in US states that have previously indicated their intention to restrict or ban abortion.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday said the draft Supreme Court opinion indicating that a majority of justices favour overturning Roe v Wade “slapped women in the face.”

Amid frustration by the perceived lack of action on the part of the Democrats to protect abortion rights on a federal level, the party has been scrambling to pass legislation to codify Roe v Wade. Although the legislation passed the House in September, the Senate Republicans blocked the Bill in February.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) vowed to force a vote on the legislation next week. However, the move is largely expected to fail.

Pro-choice protesters gather outside the US Courthouse to defend abortion rights in downtown Los Angeles on May 3, 2022

© AFP 2023 / FREDERIC J. BROWN

President Joe Biden urged Congress to codify into federal law the right to abortion, saying in a statement on 3 May:

“If the court does overturn Roe, it will fall on our nation’s elected officials at all levels of government to protect a woman’s right to choose.”

To “codify” something means to enshrine a right or a rule into a formal systematic code – something that could be done through an act of Congress in the form of a federal law. State legislatures can also codify rights by enacting laws. In order for the precedent in question to be codified for all Americans, Congress would be required to pass a law that would provide the same protections that Roe did, binding for all states.

In 16 states and the District of Columbia, state legislatures and courts have already made access to abortion a fundamental right, regardless of the Supreme Court’s forthcoming decision. These are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

However, 22 states have laws or constitutional amendments that will ban abortion if the precedent is overturned or weakened, according to Guttmacher Institute.

Four other states - Florida, Indiana, Montana, and Nebraska – are considered likely to ban abortion if federal protections provided by Roe v Wade are removed.