‘Pack the Courts!’ Pro- and Anti-abortion Activists Face Off Outside Supreme Court

Pro-choice activists called on Congress to “pack the courts” in a spontaneous demonstration outside the barricaded Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Monday evening, after a draft opinion leaked overturning the Roe v. Wade (1973) decision.

As Breitbart News noted, Politico obtained a leaked draft majority opinion by Justice Samuel Alito, holding narrowly that Roe v. Wade was no longer precedent, that there is no constitutional right to abortion, and that states must decide the issue.

Barricades were immediately set up outside the Court to prevent attacks on the building, and demonstrators soon arrived. Some were inclined to hold silent vigil. Others vented their fury: “What do we want? Abortion! When do we want it? Now!”

Signs spotted at the demonstration included the traditional slogan “Keep abortion safe + legal.” Others stated: “If I wanted SCOTUS in my VAGINA I’d f*ck a justice!!” One sign targeted Justice Alito in particular: “SAM Alito RETIRE BITCH.”

A group of anti-abortion counter-demonstrators soon arrived as well, beating drums and singing. One man sang: “We’re gonna dance/On the grave/Of Roe/v. Wade.” He was accosted by a pro-choice protestor: “Do you have a womb, white guy?”

Some pro-choice activists tried chanting “fuck Kavanaugh” and “fuck Alito,” referring to the conservative justices who were listed as joining the majority opinion.

A group then began chanting: “Pack the courts!” The idea of “packing” the courts has been suggested by Democrats, who want Congress to expand the number of seats on the Supreme Court, so that the president can appoint new (presumably left-wing) members and overturn the Court’s nominal conservative judicial majority.

Later, some pro-abortion demonstrators chanted “F*ck Joe Manchin!” and “F*ck your Court!”, among other obscenities.

The case before the Court is Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, No. 19-1392 in the Supreme Court of the U.S. United States. Oral arguments were heard last year, and a decision is not expected until the end of the Court’s term in June.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.