Following the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion proposing the reversal of Roe v. Wade, more than 100 protestors gathered at Santana Row on Thursday.
The leaked opinion authored by Associate Justice Samuel Alito was published on May 3 by POLITICO.
Thursday’s march was organized by local advocacy groups including the Party of Socialism and Liberation Bay Area, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the Democratic Socialists of America.
Angela, theater major at San Jose State who requested not to use her last name for privacy concerns, said the court’s opinion wasn’t terribly surprising.
“I feel like hopefully, California won’t be affected but everywhere else is dangerous. So that's really worrying,” she said. “I grew up in a pro-life environment, and definitely brainwashed as a kid. So coming into that through college is like, oh my God, what are people teaching each other?”
Protestors moved across the intersection of Stevens Creek and Winchester Boulevards to march through Santana Row chanting “our body, our choice.”
David Ameida, SJSU history junior and member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, said he believes protests regarding the court’s opinion are important for influencing lawmakers.
“I know that we live in California, and it's very liberal with its abortion laws,” Ameida said. “Although it's very important that we still make sure that our government knows that we will not be silent.”
If Roe v. Wade is overturned, 26 states will have laws banning abortion, according to a May 3 The Guardian article.
Additionally, 13 states passed “trigger laws,” which would allow immediate bans to go into effect if the decision is overturned, according to a May 3 CNN article.
Justice Alito stated that the issue of abortion should be decided by “the people’s elected representatives,” according to the SCOTUS opinion.
Lou Dimes, president of Black Liberation and Collective Knowledge (B.L.A.C.K.) Outreach, a local community organization in San Jose, said he believes the government has been working to overturn Roe v. Wade for a “very long time.” “ The issue is that the Constitution doesn't directly state that we have the right to privacy, but it's been used in a lot of Supreme Court rulings to give us that protection,” Dimes said.
In 1973, Roe v. Wade issued the landmark 7-2 decision ruling in favor of Norma McCorvey's right to have an abortion using the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, that provides the “right to privacy” according to a Thursday NPR article. McCorvey was at the time known as Jane Roe to protect her privacy.
“I think people really need to take note of the fact that this has to do with the right to privacy, and that leads into just so many other things,” Dimes said.
Protesters marched through Santana Row, stopping at the entrance to the outdoor mall on Winchester for attendees to listen to speakers.
Quetzali Topete, SJSU student and member of Students for Title IX at SJSU, spoke at the event.
“Roe v. Wade makes a clear statement on empowering and investing in people with uteruses’ ability to not have their life altered,” Topete said.
Protestors said they feel the reversal of Roe v. Wade could lead to consequences with other landmark rulings decided by the Supreme Court.
“If we could see the reversal of Roe v. Wade disappear overnight, then how much longer till Brown v. Board? The Civil Rights Act? Title IX?” Topete said. ormer President Barack Obama promised to codify the decision in 2007 through the “Freedom of Choice Act” saying “it would be the first thing he would do as president,” according to a May 14, 2009 New York Times article.
“[But] they've never codified [Roe v. Wade] in any way to give it more protection. And so now that [privacy’s] questioned in that way around abortion rights, it's going to be every other law, even HIPAA,” Dimes said.
Earlier this year, Congressional Democrats passed the “Women’s Health Protection Act” in the House of Representatives, according to a Monday The Cut article.
The act failed to pass in the Senate in early February, missing the 60-vote mark needed to pass the filibuster, an action to prolong debate meant to delay or prevent a vote on a bill, according to the same article.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer plans to bring a vote to the Senate on Wednesday, with the bill expected to fail again, according to a Tuesday ABC News article.
President Joe Biden pledged to try to codify Roe v. Wade after the leaked decision was released, with his administration “will be ready when any ruling is issued” to codify the decision, according to a May 3 Washington Post article.
“At the federal level, we will need more pro-choice senators and a pro-choice majority in the House to adopt legislation that codifies Roe, which I will work to pass and sign into law.” Biden tweeted on May 3.
Some protesters said they feel that Democrats are “not doing enough” to protect reproductive rights.
“I believe that if we can put enough pressure on our elected officials, especially the Supreme Court, if we show them that we can actually pose a threat to them, then we hope that at least they will listen to that and be smart and not overturn it,” Ameida said.
Crystal Calhoun, San Jose Equity Coalition leader said the methods people used to recieve an illegal abortion not performed by a doctor or trained professional prior to 1973 are no laughing matter. Calhoun said the “clothes hanger method” left many women maimed or dead.
“I was one of the first teenagers in America that got a legal abortion as soon as that law came in,” Calhoun said. “Me and my mother talking about it to this day, you know? It was 1973 and she's like, ‘Did I do the right thing?’ I'm like, ‘yes, [you] did.’ Because again, my life would have been different.”
