The supreme court has voted to strike down Roe v. Wade, a landmark court decision that “guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights and a subsequent 1992 decision — Planned Parenthood v. Casey — that largely maintained the right” (Politico). If Roe v. Wade is struck down, it would not ban abortion nationwide but instead allow states to restrict and or ban abortion. According to the Guttmacher Institute, “40 million women of reproductive age live in states “hostile” to abortion. Although California is not one of the states to enforce restrictions, the Sonoma Community held a downtown protest on May 6, 2022.

Most of the protestors on the Sonoma Plaza were SVHS students. Senior Audrey Powers decided to attend the protest because she “…wants to empower young women to stand up for what they believe in.” Protestors on the Plaza came with the intention of letting their voices be heard and fighting for the rights that are up in arms for all Americans. Junior LeeAnna Tommasi thought it was important to participate in the protest and show support for her peers, because she wanted to “maintain my right to choose…the Supreme Court should not be making decisions about my body for me.”  

If Roe v. Wade is overturned, California will be a state where women seek safe abortions. Unfortunately, many cannot afford this out-of-state care and will pursue dangerous methods to end a pregnancy. Lauran Babb, a spokesperson with the Planned Parenthood Mar Monte Health Centers serving in the Sacramento area, commented that “it doesn’t end the need for abortion, . . . it simply ends the ability to get a safe medical procedure.”