With an open US Supreme Court seat, how abortion rights could change in ND

FARGO — Two women, presumably one a patient and the other a friend, walked toward the Red River Women’s Clinic shielded by a group wearing rainbow-colored "escort" vests.

Circling them were others who had turned out to pray, hold signs and try to convince the patient not to have an abortion.

Related:

• North Dakota senators want to vote on Trump's SCOTUS nominee before election
• Spike in COVID hospitalizations, surge in cases in western ND nursing homes, bring major worries Some facilities report dozens of active cases; one was named in a spate of deaths reported over the weekend.
  

“You’re not helping. Back off,” the friend shouted to a sidewalk proselytizer.

“Free speech,” a man shouted back.

Another man, farther back on the curb, said quietly, “Your baby’s heart is already beating.”

Yngvi Winterscheid, of Fargo, said he understands the right of protesters to talk to women as they enter the clinic, but it seems “predatory.”

“It’s a very vulnerable time and I think that’s why they do it,” Winterscheid said.

It was one of many similar interactions that played out Wednesday, Sept. 23, outside North Dakota’s only abortion clinic — a setting, and the services provided there, facing an uncertain future.

A growing tug-of-war is underway in the nation’s capitol over a U.S. Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Sept. 18.

Despite a similar situation and vacancy on the court in 2016, when Senate Republicans said such a nomination by Democrats must wait until after the election, they are pushing forward, with President Trump expected to name his nominee before week’s end.

At stake, with the appointment of another conservative judge on an already conservatively-tilted court, are women’s rights, including the right to an abortion.

Tammi Kromenaker, director of the Red River Women’s Clinic, said she was devastated by the loss of Ginsburg. She described the rush to get a new justice seated as a political power grab and a “disgusting display of hypocrisy.”

“The threat to abortion is paramount,” Kromenaker said, referring to the possibility that the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision could be overturned.

Shanna Filzen, of Fargo, who brought her infant daughter to pray outside the clinic, said she hopes to be part of the generation that does so.

“If people don't acknowledge the dignity of life, then I don't think any other social issue matters,” Filzen said.

Vernon Solum came to protest outside the clinic as part of the 40 Days for Life campaign, which includes prayer vigils in multiple cities.

“We’re just trying to bring public awareness to the truth about what abortion is,” Solum said.

If the landmark court ruling is overturned, women from North Dakota seeking an abortion would have to travel to other “protected” states to get one.

According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, neighboring Minnesota and Montana are considered “protected” states, where the right to abortion is recognized or protected under the state constitution.

However, women who don’t have the means to travel may decide to take matters into their own hands.

“We’ll see women harmed, women dying. I don’t see how that is pro-life,” Kromenaker said.

Robin Huebner / The Forum

Lyndi Williams and Quindlynn Overland, both of Moorhead, have spent time outside the clinic supporting abortion rights.

Williams said making abortions illegal won’t keep them from happening.

“It will just make them unsafe,” she said.

Overland said it’s a matter of bodily autonomy.

“I’m not going to make you do anything with it that you don’t want to do, including carrying another human being,” she said.

Ken Koehler, of West Fargo, has been coming to the clinic for years to pray and hold signs displaying the body parts of aborted fetuses.

He was asked about women seeking unsafe options if abortion were outlawed.

“We just need to step up and do more for those who find themselves in that situation,” Koehler said.

Since Ginsburg’s death, Kromenaker said she’s received multiple requests from people asking to volunteer as clinic escorts as a way to honor the late justice.

If Roe v. Wade is in jeopardy, she expects people will protest to fight for social justice “like we’ve never seen before.”