Kendall Tietz, DCNF

Protesters gathered outside of the Supreme Court on Wednesday ahead of oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which challenges Roe v. Wade.

The crowd consisted of pro-life and pro-choice protesters ahead of oral arguments in the Dobbs case, which has been blocked by a federal court and is a direct challenge to the landmark Roe v. Wade case, which limits abortion restrictions.

Overturning Roe, which the Dobbs case could do, would not outlaw abortion in the U.S., but it would give states more power to restrict abortion in the first two trimesters of pregnancy.

The Dobbs case involves a law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks in Mississippi, about three weeks into the second trimester, the Daily Caller News Foundation previously reported. But the state’s only licensed abortion clinic does not offer abortions after 16 weeks of pregnancy.

Legal challenges to the Mississippi law give the Court a chance to overturn Roe v. Wade and allow each state more freedom to choose how to regulate abortion.

Many students were in the crowd, including the Students For Life group. Some pro-life advocates took the stand to speak.

“I had an appointment to die,” one pro-life speaker said. “Before I was born … my mother scheduled to abort me. She paid for an abortion because she felt forced by my father.”

“Afraid and alone, she decided to end my life. A hospital janitor saved me … the janitor asked her a simple, life-saving question, ‘Do you want to have this baby?’ My mother said, ‘Yes,’” the student said.

Pro-choice protestors were also present, claiming “abortion is healthcare,” while others reportedly took “abortion pills” to demonstrate their pro-abortion stance.

Democratic Missouri Rep. Cori Bush made pro-choice arguments in front of the crowd, saying that abortion is a constitutional right.

“Why are we here?” Bush asked the crowd. “Justice. What do we want? Justice.”

“Today, we are here to say, there is nothing just about a far-right Supreme Court,” Bush said.

Laurel Duggan contributed to this report.

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