Elizabeth Nicholson stood in the middle of a crowd at New Castle’s Battery Park, megaphone in hand.
As she peered through her purplish-red glasses, she took a breath and began telling the crowd about the “careless decision” she’d made decades earlier, at age 14.
She’d had sex and wound up pregnant. An average-sized woman now, at the time she weighed only 85 pounds. There was no way she could have carried a baby to term, she said.
Nicholson told her mother, who took her to the doctor. She was lucky that Roe v. Wade had been decided at that point – she was able to get the abortion she needed. She believes it saved her life.
FALLOUT:With Roe v. Wade overturned, Delaware may become destination for people seeking abortions
As Nicholson told her story Friday evening, her voice began to crack.
“I’ve been crying all day,” she said to the group of 200 or so gathered after the U.S. Supreme Court decision announced earlier in the day overturned 50 years of federal abortion rights.
“All I can do is picture some poor 14-year-old girl who’s gonna die because of a mistake.”
In Delaware and across the nation, thousands gathered to protest the ruling.
While many at the New Castle rally expressed their anger, others, like Nicholson, cried. And though children played happily on swings nearby, their laughs weren’t enough to cut through the somberness that filled the park.
“Today, my first reaction was tears,” said Aniela Meinhaldt, another speaker at the rally. “Women are not treated equal; we never have been. But at least with Roe v. Wade, we had bodily autonomy.”
The sadness and anger that overwhelmed New Castle was also felt in Seaford, where about two dozen women gathered Friday evening to protest the ruling. Though the crowd was small, their presence was significant.
For the last year or so, the rural Sussex County town has been the center of Delaware’s debate over abortion.
BACKGROUND:Planned Parenthood is returning to Sussex County. The backlash has already begun.
When it became clear last summer that Planned Parenthood was coming to the small, conservative town, the backlash was swift. Anti-abortion groups jumped into action, and Seaford’s mayor and city council members began receiving dozens of calls.
Legally, the city could not prevent Planned Parenthood from opening, which provides far more than just abortions. In December, City Council passed an ordinance that requires the burial or cremation of fetal remains, making it the first municipality in Delaware to pass such legislation.
While supporters of the ordinance said it was simply about ensuring the “dignified disposal” of remains, opponents saw it as an attempt to make access to abortion services more difficult.
They further argued that it stigmatizes those seeking abortions and adds administrative and financial burdens on medical facilities that provide abortion services or care related to miscarriages.
THE LAWSUIT:Delaware attorney general sues Seaford over abortion ordinance in history-making move
Attorney General Kathy Jennings in January filed a lawsuit against the city, something that has rarely happened in the state’s history. She said Seaford’s legislation is part of a nationwide movement to “make it more difficult and costly for pregnant persons to be able to receive lawful reproductive healthcare services, and more difficult for healthcare providers to provide those services.”
Six months later, no decision has been made on Jennings’ lawsuit.
It was under this backdrop that Milford resident Virginia Allen sat on a park bench late Friday evening, staring blankly at the ground.
Teeth clenched and eyes watering, she remembered being in Washington D.C. In 1973 when the Supreme Court codified Roe v. Wade.
SANCTUARY STATE:While some states attack abortion, Delaware passes bill expanding access to it
“I’m just mad at this, man,” she said as friends consoled her. In the background, chants, sirens and car horns came from Seaford’s Soroptimist Park, where the women had gathered.
“I am so pissed right now,” echoed Seaford resident Susan Nancarrow. “You look around and you see women from the original protest in 1973 and they’re furious. We have high school girls here who are really shocked that people can restrict what you can and can’t do with your body.”
Sophia Lovelace, a sophomore at Seaford High School, said she was one of those who was shocked. But more than that, she was worried.
“This isn’t going to stop abortions from happening,” she said. “People will continue doing it because there’s no reason that abortions should be illegal.”
Reporter Amanda Fries contributed to this report.
Got a story tip or idea? Send to Isabel Hughes at ihughes@delawareonline.com. For all things breaking news, follow her on Twitter at @izzihughes_
