Protests reacting to a leaked Supreme Court draft decision revealing the court’s intent to overturn Roe vs. Wade sprang up across the county Tuesday.
Some gathered in Wilmington, chanting “Not the church, not the state, women must decide their fate!”
Several groups from across the state organized the rally downtown - protesting the draft, and urging Delaware to prepare. It drew at least 100 people, including Melissa Froemming from Delaware Now, a women's rights organizations that mobilizes activists.
“If you look at the borders, looking at the southeast, I mean those folks are moving to the closest places they can north, and Delaware is one of those states that they’re going to hit first, and we need to get prepared.”
Delaware is one of 13 states that has already codified abortion rights. Should the draft decision stand, many are concerned those states could be overrun and overwhelmed by women seeking care.
Wilmington resident DeShanna Neal had two abortions as a young adult because she wasn’t ready for kids. She adds that without that option, she wouldn’t have been able to finish college and build a stable life for the four kids she has now.
“We’re going to see babies being found in places that they shouldn’t be," Neal said. "And more people are going to be traumatized either finding a living baby or a dead baby.”
Neal said she worries that if abortion becomes illegal again, maternal death and child poverty will rise.
Congresswoman Lisa Blunt-Rochester (D) joined the rally later on.
“We don’t want to see somebody have to go across a state line or across a country to take care of a right that they now have," Blunt-Rochester said. "We don’t want to see a family struggling and not knowing what they’re going to do and then they can’t make their own choice. Or a student that is raped.”
Blunt-Rochester says if abortion rights disappear now, other Supreme Court precedents - like the one legalizing same-sex marriage -could be next.
Blunt-Rochester and other House lawmakers passed the Women’s Protection Act last September - protecting abortion services and pre-empting many state-level restrictions. Blunt-Rochester says they are still waiting for the Senate to vote, but it is unlikely to pass there.
