Residents gather to condemn U.S. Supreme Court’s decision
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on Friday, more than 100 people gathered in downtown Longmont along Main Street and 6th Avenue to protest.
In addition to carrying a sign that said, “Nobody should be forced to go through this,” Elsa Frey also was carrying her 40-week-old unborn baby at Friday’s event.
“I was due on Tuesday. So, I’m overdue,” Frey said as cars passed and honked just footsteps away. “I’m pregnant with a daughter who is going to be born any day now … and it’s, now, just that much scarier to bring her into a world where she’s suddenly having her rights systematically stripped away.”
Rain showers, which moved through the area as the protest got underway at 5 p.m., did not thin out the crowd by any means. Instead, people standing shoulder to shoulder chanted “Abort the court” from the sidewalk as rush-hour traffic proceeded up and down Main Street.
Some honked in support of the protest, some looked on without much of a reaction and at least one man rolled down his window and yelled, “Abortion is murder.”
Whether a honk of support or a comment against abortion, protesters generally cheered every time they got a reaction from drivers passing by.
Longmont Mayor Joan Peck, who also attended Friday’s rally, said the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade would have dire consequences especially on women who are living in poverty and already facing significant obstacles in receiving quality health care.
“We need to fight,” Peck said. “I am really excited to see everybody out here, especially the men.”
Friday’s protest drew people of all ages and backgrounds and while many people in attendance had expected the forthcoming Supreme Court decision — given its conservative majority and the leaked draft opinion — it was still hard for Longmont resident Barbara Halpin to process.
“When I was in high school in the 1980s we had rights that my daughter now in the 2020s does not have and that’s a shame in my opinion,” Halpin said. “It really reflects to me how this country is going backwards.”
Jonathan Singer, a former Colorado state representative, said the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade had “awakened a sleeping giant” and was confident it would reflect at the ballot box this November.
“Women’s rights are human rights and so an injustice to anyone is an injustice to everyone,” Singer said. “If I don’t stand up … for my daughter, then who is going to stand up for me?”
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