Supreme Court abortion decision: Pro-life, pro-choice protesters in tense confrontations outside SCOTUS

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Heated protests outside Supreme Court ahead of abortion decision

A pro-choice protester confronts pro-life protesters praying outside the Supreme Court.

The tensions were high Tuesday morning among pro-life and pro-choice protesters in front of the Supreme Court building following an astonishing Monday night leak of a draft opinion that signaled the high court would issue a final opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.

Protesters from both sides of the abortion issue started gathering late Monday night after a leaked draft opinion from Justice Samuel Alito in early February was published. 

"Hey, hey, ho, ho, abortion now," some of the pro-choice protesters chanted. One pro-choice protester was seen berating pro-life protesters while they prayed outside of the Supreme Court.

PROTESTERS GATHER OUTSIDE SUPREME COURT BUILDING FOLLOWING LEAKED DRAFT OPINION TO OVERTURN ROE V. WADE

A crowd of people gather outside the Supreme Court, Monday night, May 2, 2022 in Washington following reports of a leaked draft opinion by the court overturning Roe v. Wade.  (AP Photo/Anna Johnson)

"Lord God, we take a side today and we pray for peace. We pray for peace not only of the people who are here today, but for all of the children's lives who have been lost over the past 50 years," a pro-life activist said over a speaker, competing with the noise of the chants. "We pray for all of the women who are going through the tough choice of choosing life and we pray that our students and our nation are prepared to help those women walk through their pregnancy and choose life."

"We pray not only for them, but for peace in our entire nation," the female activist said.

Later in the morning, a pro-life supporter grilled Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who was speaking in front of the Supreme Court to supporters of Roe. v. Wade.

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"We don't want to dismember children in the womb, ma'am," the guy yelled at Warren. "We are not going to stand for dismembering 3,000 children in the womb every single day."

His comments led to Warren supporters telling him to "shut up" and telling Warren's staff to "get her out of there."

"Shut up, a--hole," one woman responded.

Republicans in Congress responded to the POLITICO report about the leaked memo by calling for the leaker to be prosecuted, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who called it a "lawless act."

"The same political movement that used a leak to move up the timeline of Justice Breyer's retirement process is trying to use yet another leak to make the court less secure and less impartial," he added.

ROE V. WADE UPROAR: MCCONNELL CALLS FOR PROSECUTION OF SUPREME COURT LEAKER

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks to reporters after a Republican strategy meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said the "breach of the Court's deliberative process" is "an appalling affront against a critical institution and should be fully investigated." Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas said he hopes "whoever is responsible for the leaked draft opinion is fired, prosecuted, and has to serve real jail time."

Chief Justice John Roberts called the leak a 'betrayal of the confidences of the Court' and directed the Marshal of the Court to investigate. 

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"We at the Court are blessed to have a workforce – permanent employees and law clerks
alike – intensely loyal to the institution and dedicated to the rule of law," Roberts said. "Court employees have an exemplary and important tradition of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial process and upholding the trust of the Court. This was a singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Court and the community of public servants who work
here."

"To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the
integrity of our operations, it will not succeed. The work of the Court will not be affected
in any way," Roberts added.

Fox News' Ronn Blitzer and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.