Original Sentinel article
By PK Hattis
SANTA CRUZ — Hundreds of Santa Cruzans took to the streets late Tuesday afternoon to gather in front of the Santa Cruz County Courthouse in defense of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision in danger of being overturned.
The rally came less than 24 hours after the news outlet Politico published a story detailing a leaked Supreme Court draft majority opinion that would obliterate the 1973 decision and along with it the federally protected right to abortion that’s been in place for nearly 50 years.
As the fading afternoon sun stretched over the courthouse, it illuminated the faces of determined rally goers as they moved up from the sidewalk and onto the concrete steps and patio. Many were visibly upset, carrying signs that read “A mother. By choice. For choice.” Another held a white square sign with the written phrase, “Keep your legislation off my body!” Pink hats reminiscent of the 2017 Women’s March were peppered throughout the mingling crowd, diverse in age and gender.
While the leaked draft opinion – which was authenticated by the Court’s Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday morning – is not final and still technically subject to change, abortion rights activists have been warning of this moment for years.
“This ruling puts the lives of poor women and women of color at most risk,” said Leslie Conner, the CEO of the Santa Cruz Women’s Health Center and the event’s inaugural speaker. “This is a call to action for all women, especially young women whose future’s will be directly impacted by this ruling,” Conner said to the roaring crowd. A young girl in attendance would later step to the microphone and say with passion, “Everyone should have a good future!”
The rally was attended by many current and former city and county officials such as Gail Pellerin, Justin Cummings, Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson and Cynthia Mathews. The list of speakers at the event included leaders from the Santa Cruz chapter of the NAACP, the Santa Cruz Planned Parenthood chapter, and a UC Santa Cruz student.
Other students in the crowd included Sally Neas, a UC Davis graduate student attending school remotely from her home in Felton. Neas was accompanied by her partner Max and their infant daughter, smiling ear to ear.
When asked how she felt attending the event with her daughter, Neas said, “It feels really important … more than anything I know what it means to be a parent, I know what it means to carry a pregnancy, I know what it means to give birth and that is just absolutely not a thing that should be forced upon people. It’s a big deal.” Neas also shared that she has three sisters currently living in North Carolina, a state that is likely to enforce strict abortion restrictions should Roe fall.
Gavin Newson, California’s Democratic governor, released a statement detailing just the opposite — a pledge to codify the right to abortion into the state constitution. The statement was released on his official Twitter page, just hours after the draft decision began circulating. “We know we can’t trust the Supreme Court to protect reproductive rights, so California will build a firewall around this right in our state constitution. Women will remain protected here,” the statement reads.
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