While Cockburn is never one to look for trouble, trouble often finds him. And so it was, following his habit of daily strolls through DC’s hotspots, he unthinkingly meandered past the Supreme Court this past weekend.
The crowds there had diminished in size a few days off from the Dobbs ruling, but they have grown no less fervent. On Saturday, Cockburn encountered speakers touching on subjects of race, revolution and fighting back against the system. There were several signs, along with pro-abortion stickers and pamphlets. At one point, somebody actually gave him a pamphlet featuring rules of revolution (Saul Alinsky would be proud), detailing diverse ways to topple the current governmental system and “replace it with something that benefits everyone.”
Cockburn was always heavily skeptical of any US-based revolutions not involving a pub, because grandiose ideas of reform are so often mired in bloodshed. If these activists want government regulation “out of their bodies,” then why are they upset that the abortion issue will no longer be under the control of the federal government?
There were opposition protests, too. The counter-protesters held pictures of aborted fetuses and tried preaching to the crowd. These people were the targets of profanity and were regulated to the outward corners of the protest space. Cockburn could only watch the anti-abortion activists articulate their points to the people calling for “abortion on demand and without apology.”
Cockburn noticed a small group of counter-protesters in the evening light holding a small pro-life sign. The next moment, a woman clad in black was running off with it. After a brief confrontation, the police separated everyone, though the counter-protesters ended up in need of a small escort squad to leave. The crowd had been whipped up into a frenzy, screaming at and mocking the people within the police circle. Cockburn was thankful he had not drawn any attention to himself.
Although the militant extremist pro-abortion rights group Jane’s Revenge did not cause as much damage as had been speculated, pro-choice activists still mobbed the Supreme Court, only just recently settling down. Earlier today, Cockburn walked by a small pro-life rally in front of the Court, freely displaying pictures of aborted fetuses that had previously been shouted down and dismissed. While the subject matter was grim, it was more stable than the protests that had come before.
While Cockburn doesn’t know what will ultimately come with this ruling, the commotion and hysteria around Dobbs appears to be dying down at the site where it all began.
