More than two dozen cops guarded St. Patrick’s Cathedral Saturday morning, but the Midtown icon remained quiet as worshippers prayed uninterrupted — despite protests gearing up in other parts of the Big Apple following the overturning of the landmark Roe v Wade ruling that protected women’s rights to abortion for nearly 50 years.
At least five NYPD vans and SUVs were spotted outside the cathedral around 9:30 am. Barricades surrounded the church along Madison Avenue, E. 50th Street and E. 51st Street. Only the main entrance on 5th Avenue remained open.
Church security refused to let the media inside even during open mass.
One woman who left the 8 a.m. service gave a thumbs up, smiling, when asked about the ruling.
“Awesome! Awesome!” she said. “Stop killing babies. It’s life! It’s life! That’s what it is; it’s not a choice. It’s a child.”
Another woman who also declined to provide her name said she believes it should be up to the states to decide about local abortion rights.
“I don’t ever think it should be a federal government decision what we do with our bodies,” the woman said. “I think it should be on the state level, so people can vote and make a difference.”
While the high court’s decision to uphold the Mississippi law challenging Roe does not outlaw abortion, it does hand regulatory power to state governments.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan was not scheduled to say mass St. Patrick’s Saturday, but shortly after the ruling was released, he issued a statement with the bishops of New York State saying that the court’s “just decision will save countless innocent children simply waiting to be born.”
