| All Saints Church, Pasadena, hosted a June 24 community protest against the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe vs. Wade. The decision will allow states to decide whether or not to allow abortions, or to restrict access to the procedure.
The rally drew hundreds of people of all ages, many carrying signs protesting the court’s decision.
California law permits abortions up to the point of viability (about the 24th week); terminating a pregnancy after that point requires certification from two doctors. Abortions are legal in California at any time in cases of rape or incest, or if the pregnant person’s life is threatened.
Since 1967, The Episcopal Church has maintained its “unequivocal opposition to any legislation on the part of the national or state governments which would abridge or deny the right of individuals to reach informed decisions [about the termination of pregnancy] and to act upon them.”
The Rev. Canon Susan Russell of All Saints (pictured below left) was among those who spoke at the rally. “Today, we catch our breath, because we’ve been gutpunched,” she said. “We grieve because we’ve been wounded. We lament because we can. And we vent and we rage, and, yeah, we say, ‘I told you so.’ We grieve, and then we fight.”
Photos by Luwin Kwan.
Secular press coverage of the rally:
Hundreds Rail Against Supreme Court Abortion Decision at Pasadena Protest (Pasadena Now – June 25, 2022)
Joy, fear, anger at Sunday church services shows widening divide over abortion (Los Angeles Times – June 26, 2022) |
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