Robots, suffragettes and pro-choice Catholics: Meet the mifepristone ban protesters outside the Supreme Court

Catholics for Choice President Jamie Manson arrived on the steps of the US Supreme Court with one goal in mind: To fight against religiously motivated restrictions on reproductive healthcare in the United States.

“There has been a very concerted effort by Catholics…to pack this Court with justices who are opposed to abortion because of their faith,” she told The Independent.

Ms Manson spoke to The Independent on Tuesday morning as the court heard oral arguments in a case that could overturn the federal government’s approval of the abortion drug mifepristone. The plaintiffs argue that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wrongfully approved mifepristone for use up to 10 weeks of pregnancy, and then improperly eliminated requirements that the drug should only be dispensed in person.

Thousands of people, from both the Washington, DC metro area and beyond, flocked to the steps of the nation’s highest court to advocate for accessible reproductive healthcare and speak out against the anti-abortion activists who brought the case forward.

Two demonstrators hold a banner that reads, “Clergy for Choice."

Ms Manson was joined by Kate Hoeting, writer and managing editor of Catholics for Choice and an abortion doula who provides physical and emotional support for women who receive abortions.

“Being an abortion doula moulded me into a woman of faith,” Ms Hoeting told The Independent. “I didn’t use to be religious at all”

For Ms Hoeting, her faith is inextricably intertwined with her activism — and she hopes to fight the “religious extremism” that she says propelled the case to the Supreme Court.

She is not alone. From doctors, women dressed as suffragettes and mifepristone-carrying robots, thousands are calling for the Supreme