Roe v. Wade overturned: Abortion rights supporters rally in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) — Supporters of abortion rights gathered in Pittsburgh after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

On Friday, the Supreme Court stripped away the nation's constitutional protections for abortion that had stood for nearly a half-century. The decision by the court's conservative majority overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling and is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states.

READ MORE: Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh leaders react to Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade

Advocates of abortion rights gathered outside the City-County Building in downtown Pittsburgh. Women's March - Pittsburgh organized Friday's event, which it called "Decision day action - we won't go back." The group said the Supreme Court dealt a "lethal blow" to all women. 

Organizers said gatherings like this show that no one is alone, and they can be angry together and take steps to protect their rights together.  

Organizers said they are going to fight for abortion rights in Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh-area political leaders, including Mayor Ed Gainey, spoke at the event.

"We are gonna fight with every ounce that's in us to make sure they don't roll back any more rights," Gainey said. "Pittsburgh is for you, and it's the place for abortion."

"We're going to fight tooth and nail here in Pennsylvania for it to be a safe and accessible place for folks to come to get abortion care," Dena Stanley with Women's March - Pittsburgh told KDKA-TV's Jessica Guay. "To make sure these elected officials know that we are not going to play with you, this will be a safe space."

Opponents of abortion rights also gathered outside the City-County Building on Friday.

"We should all come together on certain things, like the fact that the science is clear. We know at ferritization or conception, what we have is a genetically distinct, whole living human being. It's my position that it should be illegal to kill those human beings," Herb Geraghty, the executive director of Rehumanize International, told KDKA-TV's Jessica Guay.

After gathering at the City-County Building, the hundreds of supporters of abortion rights marched through the streets of Pittsburgh.

Abortion is legal in Pennsylvania under decades of state law, including a 1989 law that was challenged all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. That produced the landmark Planned Parenthood v. Casey ruling that affirmed the high court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion nationwide, but also allowed states to put certain limits on abortion access.

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In:
• Pennsylvania
• Roe v. Wade
• Protest
• Pittsburgh