About 16 people gathered in front of San Jose City Hall Sunday morning to protest
the ripple effects taking place across the U.S. after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24.
Organized by the Party for Socialism and Liberation Bay Area chapter (PSL), the protest was set to be just a few days before Aug. 25, when trigger laws in several states such as Wyoming, Utah and North Dakota will begin to take effect – banning abortion.
Abortion is now illegal in eight states while 19 others having been deemed “hostile” toward legal abortion, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights’ website. The Center for Reproductive Rights is a global legal advocacy organization that seeks to advance reproductive rights, according to its website.
There have been 20 states that have codified the right to abortion or expanded funding and protections for abortion services, according to the same website.
“This is not taking place in California, but we are here to stand in solidarity with all of our brothers and sisters who will be affected by this,” said Maggie Yao, organizer with PSL and San Jose resident.
Some protesters also expressed concern about local technology companies' involvement in the issue.
“Not only do they create rental hikes, but now they’re using our private messages against us and at the same time, saying they ‘support women’ and that they ‘stand up for women,’” said Kamila Flores, PSL Bay Area member and event organizer. “Giving these messages to a court is actually not standing up to women.”
Facebook complied with a police investigation in Nebraska into an abortion done at 28 weeks, which is illegal in the state after 20 weeks, according to an Aug. 9 NBC article.
The Bay Area-based tech company provided chats to Nebraska police that showed Celeste Burgess, 41, instructing her daughter, Jessica Burgess, who was 17 at the time, on how to take abortion pills that she obtained, according to the same NBC article.
Flores expressed concern about the lack of pressure from San Jose City Council toward companies, including Facebook, that works with authorities who seek to criminalize abortion.
“They should be doing something about it. They should be creating some policy where we are protected and we have privacy in the messages that we are sending on these platforms and the city council should be pressuring these companies to do that,” Flores said.
