Residents protest Supreme Court abortion decision
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From staff reports
PARKERSBURG -- More than a dozen people staged a protest at the edge of City Park on Monday over the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and returning the question of abortion to the states.
Parkersburg resident Taylor Emerick said she organized the event to coincide with Independence Day activities at the park.
"We aren't celebrating the Fourth because we aren't free anymore," she said.
While some in the area who oppose abortion welcomed the decision, Emerick said she and others wanted to express their views.
"In Parkersburg, and in West Virginia in general, people seem to think everybody has the same opinion," she said.
Emerick said laws that some states have or plan to enact outlawing abortion affect other health care procedures as well.
She put the event together on social media, and some of those who joined her heard about it from family members. The group received several supportive honks from passing cars, while at least one individual walking in the park appeared frustrated by the demonstration.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has pledged to call a special session of the Legislature after Attorney General Patrick Morrissey recommended the state update its abortion laws. A law on the books since West Virginia's founding in 1863 makes providing abortion services a felony, so the state's only provider, the Women's Health Center in Charleston, ceased offering them after the Supreme Court's opinion was released.
The ACLU and two law firms filed suit last week to block enforcement of the law, which only allows an exception for saving the life of the mother or child.