WATCH: Pro-life women celebrate end of Roe v. Wade

After the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision dropped last Friday, pro-life activists erupted in overwhelming cheer outside the Supreme Court. 

Campus Reform covered their reaction on the ground as the opinion became public. 

“I worked on this issue for 10 years. There are people here who have worked on this issue for 50 years,” Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising Founder and Executive Director Terrisa Bukovinac told Campus Reform. “It is an incredible experience to be here with them.”

Bukovinac stated that the experience was “surreal” and  the decision was the “first step towards justice for these babies and toward building a better world.”

“I’ve never known what it’s like to live in a country without Roe,” an activist from Concerned Women for America told Campus Reform, ”and so it was an emotional moment to stand there, and stand at that podium, and say ‘that changes for me today, and for all the young women behind me.’”

The 6-3 opinion did not ban abortion on the federal level, but rather enables states to enact their own laws permitting abortion. 

Activists on the ground told Campus Reform that the mission now continues to make abortion illegal and unthinkable.

One activist said:

“A lot of people think that overturning Roe v. Wade is the end goal of the pro-life movement, but this is just the beginning. It makes it so that we can go back to our home states and we can advocate for pro-life legislation within our communities.”

Eight states banned abortion immediately following the ruling. Another 13 are expected to enact “trigger bans” within 30 days, The Washington Post reports. 

However, 20 states and Washington D.C. are expected to keep abortion legal.

“We need to mobilize ground activists to work in blue cities, abortion strongholds across the country,” Bukovinac said. “We need more left-leaning leadership, we need more secular leadership that can speak to the communities who, at this moment, are still advocating for the deaths of these babies.”

Activists in attendance represented a broad-range political spectrum. One girl told Campus Reform she is a progressive atheist but is undoubtedly pro-life.

”As a progressive, as an atheist, as a feminist, I am so excited that we have a path forward to show that abortion is not progressive, it’s regressive,” she said.

In addition to outlawing abortion, the pro-life movement is intent on stepping up to support women throughout their pregnancies.

”We’re prepared to help all students and people in our community on campus who find themselves in pregnancies that they’re unprepared for,” a University of Notre Dame student said, “and in a lot of the states they’re not gonna have access to abortion, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not gonna be able to live the dreams that they want to live and be the amazing mothers and parents, or even give the gift of adoption to someone.” 

Watch the full video above.

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