Abortion-rights supporters, opponents gather outside local women’s clinic, Government Center

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — If federal protections on abortion are overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, a big question is what that means for local women.

On Tuesday, Channel 9′s Ken Lemon was in southeast Charlotte where a handful of abortion-rights supporters and abortion opponents were addressing every car that came the clinic. Some were directing people to the front door and others were asking them to consider other options.

Both said these kind of things happens every day. But it is a new day in the decades-long debate of Roe v. Wade, and a woman halfway across the world also heard it.

Mother of four, Brice Griffin, of Charlotte, is in Israel and visited the Basilica where believers say Jesus’ mother learned she was pregnant. Hours before, she got a call from a friend in the states.

“He said we are going to overturn Roe. I have goosebumps from head to toe,” Griffin said. “What a day to be here in the Holy Land.”

She told Lemon that she had an abortion when she was 23. Years later, she said the experience still haunts her.

“I was in a very, very dark place for many years,” Griffin said.

She became an outspoken opponent of abortion and was thrilled to hear the Supreme Court may be leaning toward overturning Roe v. Wade.

“Dismantling Roe does not take abortion off the table,” she said.

Griffin did point out that if the court makes the change official, it just means abortion is not constitutionally protected and states can decide if its legal.

In east Charlotte, the Preferred Women’s Health Center has performed abortions for 25 years.

“We have been expecting this. We knew this could happen,” said administrator Calla Hales.

Hales said she expects the Supreme Court will indeed vote to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, but she wants women to know it has not yet happened.

“Abortion is still legal in all 50 states right now,” she said.

Demonstrators gather outside Government Center

Demonstrators gather outside Government Center

(Watch the video above for reporter Erika Jackson’s report)

“No one really wakes up and thinks, ‘I want to terminate my pregnancy,’” said Izzy Hernandez.

In 2017, she became pregnant.

“It would’ve been my fifth abortion, so it’s something that I didn’t want to go through again,” Hernandez said. “Especially, after leaving that behind in New York.”

[RELATED COVERAGE: Leaked Roe v. Wade draft opinion: What are Biden, Roberts, others saying about it?]

Hernandez said she met a Christian support group outside an abortion clinic.

She walked in and immediately walked out.

Hernandez had the baby girl who is now four years old.

“That is fantastic news,” Hernandez said about the Supreme Court draft opinion that suggests the High Court is set to overturn Roe vs Wade. “And I am so glad and grateful that it’s been overturned finally.”

Hernandez said she is happy she didn’t have an abortion.

“She’s taught me so much, and she’s made me such a better person,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez is part of the anti-abortion movement.

“Abortion is safe,” said Heather Mobley, a board member for Charlotte for Choice. “It’s a normal procedure. It’s healthcare. Right now it’s still legal.”

Mobley wants the choice to choose to continue across the U.S.

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Dozens of abortion-rights supporters marched through uptown Charlotte Tuesday shouting their opposition to the draft ruling.

“Making it illegal is not going to stop abortion, it’s going to make it harder for people,” Mobley said.

(WATCH BELOW: Roe V. Wade: What you need to know)

Roe V. Wade: What you need to know Roe v. Wade was a 1973 Supreme Court decision that recognized a woman's legal right to an abortion. (NCD)

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