HUNDREDS GATHER FOR WOMEN’S MARCH
Rally held in response to potential overturning of Roe v. Wade decision
CHICO » Chants reverberated throughout the roads and alleys of downtown Chico from its center, where hundreds of people had gathered together to rally to keep Roe v. Wade in place.
A draft opinion from the US Supreme Court was leaked Monday that insinuated that the court could be set to overturn the 1973 decision, ending the long-standing right to abortion.
The crowd formed at the Chico City Plaza and spread along the Main Street sidewalk in protest of a potential overturning that became a march downtown toward the Chico State campus.
Toward the edge of the line of signs was Diane Suzuki, who
said she was attending in support of choice.
“We’re here to protect choice, a woman’s right to choose,” Suzuki said, adding that when she was in high school, Roe v. Wade had not yet been decided. “It’s important to defend women’s reproductive rights which is the right to access abortion care.”
Many of those driving by honked and raised their fists in support which was met with cheers from those in attendance. Some slowed or pulled to the side to give support and fist bumps. There were very few instances of anger being expressed by drivers.
From the start of the gathering at 5 p.m., groups of friends and family walked and drove together, such as Kira Willman who attended with her friends.
“This really scares me, the fact that we can have these rights taken away from us and go back 50 years in history,” Willman said. “It’s a health care thing and it’s a human rights thing. It shouldn’t be something that we’re still fighting for after so long.”
Maddi Ledgerwood expressed her concern over the future should Roe v. Wade be overturned and what could follow.
“It’s frustrating because if this is going to be overturned, what’s to say queer people aren’t going to be in trouble next,” Ledgerwood said. “It’s not going to end here.”
Ledgerwood went on to explain that overturning the decision would likely disproportionately impact some much more than others.
“The people that it’s going to affect are going to be people that already have difficulty getting access to abortion,” Ledgerwood said. “People who are upper-middle-class and white women, we’re not going to have as many issues as people who are already in states who already don’t have a lot of access.”
Willman added that an end to the decision likely won’t mean an end to abortion but rather an end to the safety of having a clinical space for them to take place.
“Abortion is not going to go away,” Willman said. “It’s just going to hurt women and the people who need abortions. Anyone who needs to get an abortion will still need one and try to get one, they’re just going to get hurt in the process.”
Cailin Dockendorf said she felt it was important for women to have the choice and spoke on the dangers many went through prior to Roe v. Wade.
“It’s going to be dangerous,” Dockendorf said. “It’s just like with the coat hangers before.”
Health issues were a common concern among attendees with fear of birth complications due to genetics and high risks.
“Some people cannot have kids because they can pass things on,” said Ami Rincón. “There are things that I could pass onto a kid and then that baby’s not going to be healthy so it’s not going to live anyway. So it’s just going to kill both of us.”
The women’s march was well attended by men as well as women. Among them was Alfonso Magdaleno, who was there in support of women’s reproductive health, said he believed it was important to fight for the rights of all people no matter if you are the one directly affected by the decision at the time.
“I think the rights of any human being on this planet and in this country need to be defended,” Magdaleno said. “It also could set precedents moving forward for other rights to be taken. We know what’s next, sadly. As I look around here I see men and women out here that are of the age where they were around back during the 70s fighting for this and here they are having to fight for it again.”
The march was organized by the Gender and Sexuality Equity Coalition in response to the leaked opinion draft.