US Activists Target Conservative Justices’ Homes for Protests Amid Roe v. Wade Scandal

A group of activists dubbed "Ruth Sent Us" is organising protests at the homes of conservative justices against alleged plans to revert the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling.

The activists have already made public the home addresses of Justices Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, John Roberts, and Clarence Thomas, and are planning to organise demonstrations there on 11 May.

Local police forces sent additional officers to the six justices’ homes in the wake of the leak of their addresses, Fox News reported. Law enforcement officers had already erected barricades in front of the Supreme Court building as pro-choice protests are taking place following the publication of the Politico report.

The report indicated that Justice Samuel Alito had drafted an opinion calling to overturn Roe v. Wade. If four more Supreme Justices join his stance, the decision, which effectively prevented states from banning abortions, would be abolished. Six out of nine sitting justices were appointed by Republican presidents, and are considered conservative-leaning.

Republican lawmakers condemned the leak as an attempt to "stir up a pressure campaign" against the justices who are poised to deliver their ruling. The Democrats in turn, including President Joe Biden, vowed to take steps to protect abortion rights even if the landmark decision is overturned.

Despite Roe v. Wade, some US states have recently attempted to pass laws limiting abortion rights.

Last year, Texas passed the so-called "heartbeat law,” which prohibits abortions once a child's heartbeat can be identified, around six weeks after conception. In order to work around Roe v. Wade, Texas did not include government enforcement for the law, instead effectively deputised every Texan to enforce it by giving them the right to sue clinics and any citizen that helps carry out an abortion at the banned stages of pregnancy.