Alabamians react to SCOTUS overturning Roe v. Wade

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - Just hours after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, pro-choice protestors began picketing at the Alabama Statehouse.

“We knew it’s coming,” protestor Mia Raven with P.O.W.E.R. House said. “We’ve known it was coming for a long time. That doesn’t mean it hurts any less.”

One sign read “Abortion is a human right.”

P.O.W.E.R. House in Montgomery organized the protest. The group helps women seeking an abortion by escorting them to the city’s only abortion clinic.

“Whatever we can do to help people get out of state to get the abortion care that they need, we will absolutely be there to help them,” Raven said.

Some of the protesters are worried the Supreme Court could overturn other rulings surrounding birth control and gay marriage.

While pro-choice supporters are distraught, pro-life supporters are relieved.

“I know there’s a lot of people that never really thought they’d see it in their lifetime, and so, yeah, it’s an exciting day,” said Daniel Atkins, senior pastor at Taylor Road Baptist Church in Montgomery.

The church leader called the ruling an answered prayer and believes life begins at conception.

He admits that with this new Supreme Court ruling, the church will have to do more.

“I think the temptation is to say, ‘Well, now we have a great opportunity,’ but we’ve always had an opportunity,” Atkins said. “We should have always been first in line for foster care and adoption and ministering to women who are struggling with this.”

He hopes more folks will put politics aside, see people as people, and stop the divineness that is all too familiar these days.

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