Give Federalism a Chance // Thank You, Justice Alito! Life is Beautiful and Worth Protecting
date: label: date made
content: 2022
label: associated date; used date
content: 2022-06-24
name: label: maker
content: Wille, Michael
notes: label: Description
content: On June 24, 2022, Supreme Court released its decisions in the court case, Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization. Roughly seven weeks previously, Politico had published a leaked draft version of the opinion which indicated that the court intended to overturn Roe v Wade, the1973 decision which had legalized abortion. By June, tensions were running high and it appeared likely that the official release of the decision would spark protests at the Supreme Court. Although opinions are typically released on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the tensions around the Dobbs case and its leak led to the opinion being released on a Friday toward the end of June (the month when decisions are released). The court released its decision at mid-day and protestors, along with police and news media, immediately descended upon the court. The majority of individuals at the court on the 24th of June were there to protest the decision as opposed to provide support for the decision.
label: Description
content: Michael Wille, a resident of Washington DC, began attending the annual March for Life protest in 2004. March for Life protests began in 1974, just a year after the decision in Roe v Wade legalizing abortion was released. Before 2003, roughly when Wille began attending these marches, attendance at the March for Life tended to be under 50,000. By 2004, when Wille began attending the march, attendance had risen to over 100,000 (attendance at the march in 2022 was lower, in part because of fears about COVID-19 and a belief that Roe v Wade would be overturned). Attendees at the rally were increasingly young. Many attendees came from schools and universities with a religious affiliation; these institutions often provided buses and other support to encourage students to attend the rally.
label: Description
content: Wille’s position on abortion was, he stated, “informed by my faith [but it is not] a religious one.” In creating his poster, he was motivated by his “secular/scientific view [that] life begins at conception” and should, he believes, “be protected by law.” In choosing what to write on his sign, Wille decided to prioritize the role of Supreme Court justices because he credited the nomination of these justices, along with the years of protesting, with ultimately leading to the decision to overturn Roe v Wade. On the flip side of his poster, he highlighted the role of federalism as he believes that “abortion is not a federal issue…[and] the Dobbs decision rightly returned this decision to the elected representatives in each state.”
label: Description
content: As was true for most of those in attendance at the event on June 24th, 2022, Wille created his own sign to reflect his own unique views. One side of the sign uses a gold outline to draw attention to the sign and ensure that it was read.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: District of Columbia, Washington
topic: label: depicted; general subject association; used; web subject
content: Abortion
label: general subject association; web subject
content: Women
label: general subject association; web subject
content: Women's Health
label: general subject association
content: Women's Rights
label: depicted; general subject association; referenced; web subject
content: Supreme Court of the United States
label: general subject association
content: Pregnancy
label: general subject association; used; web subject
content: Protest march
label: related event
content: Roe v. Wade
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Michael Wille
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2022.0212.01
label: catalog number
content: 2022.0212.01
label: accession number
content: 2022.0212
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Supreme Court Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization Sign
label: Object Name
content: sign
label: Object Type
content: Sign
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper; glitter (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 22 in x 28 in; 55.88 cm x 71.12 cm