Friday’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court reversing the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling led to gathering Tuesday of about 50 pro-choice proponents at Shields Park in Seymour.
The demonstration served as a way for those people to voice their disapproval of the reversal of the decision that had stood in place since 1973.
Darien Fields, 20, and Olivia Ault, 20, both of Seymour, said they organized the demonstration after creating a Facebook group called IN Pro-Choice Coalition.
Fields said the demonstration was organized because she believes in a right of choice for every person.
“I think it’s very important for people to have a choice whether it’s vaccinations (or) medical treatments,” she said. “People should have a right to not give away their body parts, and people should have the right to get rid of something.”
Roe’s reversal has been anticipated since early May after Politico obtained a leaked draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito that signaled the incoming decision.
Fields said she was upset and in shock when the leaked opinion came out and learned about the official decision from her grandmother when the news broke.
“She said, ‘Did you hear the good news? It has been overturned,’” Fields said. “The instant way that my whole body just felt weak and I was just like, ‘It’s happening. It’s starting.’ I still feel sick. I’m scared, and I don’t know what to do.”
Ault said she also had a visceral reaction to the decision.
“I think it’s scary that they would go so far because this is bodily autonomy for anyone, and to wake up and to know it has been taken away, it made me sick,” she said. “I was sick all day from it. It’s just not a good feeling.”
Fields and Ault said there was a march through the area, and there were not any counterprotesters aside from people that made rude gestures when they drove by and one person that showed up saying the U.S. Constitution should be restored without amendments.
Faithe Petty, 17, said she attended the demonstration to represent women, her generation and those who are afraid to speak up for their beliefs.
“I’m here because as the youth of this generation, it’s just really disheartening to see what our future can be,” she said. “As a woman, I’m not even seen as an individual. I’m just viewed as a uterus. That just really hurts, and I want to be here to be a voice for people who are too scared to speak and cannot speak.”
Michaela Schlatterer, 24, said she has seen many people give their opinion about the decision online, but she felt people should express those thoughts in person.
“I have seen hundreds of people say their thoughts online, and that’s a great start, but this is the following step by showing up and following through and showing how you feel and what you believe is right,” she said.
Schlatterer said she attended the demonstration because she wanted to stand up for what she believes is right so “her granddaughters don’t have to.”
She recently married and said if she wants to have children, adoption is one of her only options.
“If I adopt a daughter one day, I want her to have basic human rights,” she said.
In Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurring opinion on the reversal of Roe v. Wade, he said certain other landmark cases, one of which dealt with the legalization of same-sex marriage and another birth control, should be reconsidered since they used the same legal reasoning as Roe v. Wade.
Columbus resident Dalton Burden, 29, was one of a handful of men at the demonstration, and he said he was in attendance because he wanted to support women and gay rights.
“Abortion now,” he said. “What’s next? They’ve already said what’s next.”