Students and staff protested the draft produced by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito that would overturn Roe v Wade yesterday afternoon, May 3.
“I woke up this morning, I think how a lot of us did, really upset, and I decided it was my turn to put in a big effort like this,” Solana Quistorff, the main organizer of the event, said. “Our goal is mostly to come together in a time of turmoil, when our rights may feel at stake, and to reaffirm each other.”
The piece that sparked the protest was a 98-page majority opinion drafted by Justice Alito, revealing that the Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote has decided to overturn Roe v Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v Casey.
“When I saw that this was the proposed opinion of the court right now, I was so furious that I read all 98 pages,” Artemis Langford, a secondary education in social studies major, said.
“One, I am strongly in favor of reproductive rights and [two] Alito talked about other ‘phony rights’ mentioning and referencing Obgerfell [v Hodges] and Lawrence [v Texas] which are about gay marriage and the right to privacy.”
Students had access to materials to make a series of posters to visually aid their protest.
“Roe v Wade was decided on the principle of a right to privacy, so this would then set a precedent in the supreme court to then overturn other courts that have been decided that way which includes interracial marriages and rights to contraception,” Andy Bowman, an environmental system science major, said.
“Not only is it violating personal autonomy which is something that even corpses have, you still maintain that in prison, you still have that in the military, and so by taking that away just because you have a uterus is really gross.”
The overall turnout was approximately 70 to 100 students who utilized their voices not only in the march across campus, but also in an open mic discussion before and after.
“I think it’s very important for people to hear the information, even if they don’t necessarily agree with it,” Dylan Croft, a social work major, said. “It’s important to know that we are having conversations about it and that chance is given out equally.”
The draft was leaked to the public late Monday night and has sparked an internal investigation into the courtroom workforce under Chief Justice John Roberts.
Quistorff notes that this was a group effort and thanks organizations like the Queer Community Coalition and Multicultural Affairs for their help with the event.
