National writer Matt Sedensky and photographer David Goldman, both of the global enterprise team, took readers to Columbia, South Carolina, and the front lines of the fight against abortion as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs a decision that could reverse Roe v. Wade.
Access to abortion opponents can be difficult — many are mistrustful of media. But the AP pair set out to find people willing to tell their stories. Sedensky and Goldman spent several days with members of A Moment of Hope, a group that assembles outside a Planned Parenthood clinic every abortion day, trying to change the minds of women who show up.
Allison Terracio, Planned Parenthood advocacy programs manager, stands at left outside the Columbia, S.C., clinic to escort patients showing up for abortion appointments as a member of A Moment of Hope, an anti-abortion group, holds up a sign at the entrance to the clinic, May 27, 2022. With the U.S. Supreme Court due to deliver a landmark ruling expected to seriously curtail or completely overturn the constitutional right to abortion, anti-abortion advocates across the U.S. are hopeful they'll be recording a win.
AP Photo / David Goldman
Chris, who gave only his first name, a sidewalk counselor with A Moment of Hope, an anti-abortion group, arrives before sunrise to set up for the day outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia, S.C., where patients will be arriving for abortion appointments, May 27, 2022. Chris and those joining him are focused on the task at hand: changing a single mind and, in their eyes, saving a single life.
AP Photo / David Goldman
Valerie Berry, program manager for A Moment of Hope, an anti-abortion group, stands in the the organization’s RV equipped with an ultrasound machine as another anti-abortion group holds a prayer for their new office across from a Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia, S.C., May 26, 2022. For many committed to this issue, being present outside clinics where abortions are offered has become a must — to protest, to try to change minds or simply to pray. They say their work will continue even if Roe v. Wade falls.
AP Photo / David Goldman
Shonda Johnson, a volunteer for A Moment of Hope, an anti-abortion group, comforts a woman who leaves Planned Parenthood in tears after going through with an abortion, in Columbia, S.C., May 27, 2022. Thirty-two years ago, Johnson came to this very site for the very same reason, a decision she later came to see as wrong. “When I saw those tears rolling, I knew exactly where she was,” she says.
AP Photo / David Goldman
Anti-abortion protester Steven Lefemine, holds a sign as members of A Moment of Hope, an anti-abortion group, wearing green vests, try to talk with patients arriving for abortion appointments at Planned Parenthood in Columbia, S.C., May 27, 2022. Mark Baumgartner, founder of A Moment of Hope, wishes Lefemine didn't bring his big foam signs with graphic images. “(The women are) expecting to get yelled at that they're going to hell,” says Baumgartner, who left behind his job as a pilot to create the organization. “We’re here to be different.”
AP Photo / David Goldman
A member of A Moment of Hope, an anti-abortion group, holds a gift bag the group tries to hand out to patients arriving for abortion appointments at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia, S.C., May 27, 2022. If their outstretched hand manages to stop a motorist they'll try to start a conversation and offer a gift bag. A handwritten note with smartphone numbers pleads with the reader: “It is not too late to change your mind,” it says. “There are caring people who want to help you.”
AP Photo / David Goldman
A member of A Moment of Hope, an anti-abortion group, holds a plastic model of a fetus 12 weeks into its development, as part of a gift bag the group tries to hand out to patients arriving for abortion appointments at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia, S.C., May 27, 2022.
AP Photo / David Goldman
Mark Baumgartner, founder of A Moment of Hope, an anti-abortion group, arrives in an RV equipped with an ultrasound machine outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia, S.C., May 27, 2022, on a day when patients will be showing up for abortion appointments. A decade ago, the former pilot was on a one-man crusade. Now, Baumgartner leads a group of employees and volunteers big enough to stand outside Planned Parenthood every minute it’s open.
AP Photo / David Goldman
Eddie Benton, executive director at the Daybreak LifeCare Center, walks through the baby boutique at their women’s health clinic next to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia, S.C., May 26, 2022. The health center offers free services in the hopes women will choose against having an abortion at Planned Parenthood.
AP Photo / David Goldman
Allison Terracio, Planned Parenthood advocacy programs manager, is reflected in a table at the clinic’s office in Columbia, S.C., May 27, 2022. Under South Carolina law, a woman arriving for an abortion would have already undergone a waiting period and been pointed toward a lengthy document detailing fetal development. Terracio says these women have already thought through their decision and nothing protesters can offer will change the circumstances of the prospective mother’s life. “I’m not in the business of convincing anybody of anything,” Terracio says.
AP Photo / David Goldman
Anna Kelley recites the Rosary while praying outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia, S.C., as patients arrive for abortion appointments, May 27, 2022. After decades of tiny steps and endless setbacks, America’s anti-abortion movement is poised for the possibility of a massive leap as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares a landmark ruling expected to seriously curtail or completely overturn the constitutional right to abortion.
AP Photo / David Goldman
Sedensky reported for text and Goldman delivered the visuals, his video edited and produced by multiformat journalist Allen Breed. The team worked quickly to publish the story before a potential Supreme Court ruling. The resulting package relates the case of one pregnant woman and the conflict playing out between abortion foes and clinic workers as the woman decides whether to end her pregnancy.
The gripping narrative, woven together with voices of both opponents and defenders of abortion and the history of the movement, engaged readers and viewers and reinforced AP’s balanced coverage leading up to the expected high court decision. Sednesky heard from readers happy AP was giving space to a view millions of Americans hold, when much media coverage focuses on the concerns of those supporting abortion rights.