JACKSON, Wyo. — In the wake of news that the Supreme Court will likely overturn Roe v. Wade, local activists turned to demonstrate on Town Square tonight in support of the 1973 ruling that protects abortion rights in the United States.
A decision to overrule Roe would lead to abortion bans in roughly half of U.S. states, Wyoming included.
“It makes me feel super sad and angry,” said Jackson resident Anna Kerr, who advocates for minority issues in the valley.
“The systems that we have in place are failing to separate church and state and [most] of the people making these decisions are those who don’t have abortions,” said Kerr.
If the U.S. Supreme Court follows through on overturning Roe v. Wade, it would split the country into states with abortion access and those that outlaw it. That scenario, Kerr says, only protects the upper class.
“That means to me that abortion will remain only accessible to affluent people. People who are low income are less able to get up, take time off of work, drive hours or states away and will not have access to safe abortions. That means it will just remain legal and accessible to the wealthy,” Kerr said.
In demonstrating, Kerr hopes that this country can continue to keep abortion and reproductive health safe and accessible to everyone.
Kerr’s sentiments were echoed by Merritt Anderson, who organized tonight’s rally.
“[Banning abortion federally] does not give anyone equal access and certain populations will be disproportionately affected,” said Anderson.
“I am very privileged that if I needed to I could very easily go somewhere and get one and that still doesn’t really matter to me because at the end of the day it’s about all women. All women deserve freedom and reproductive rights. It perpetuates inequality when women don’t have equal access.”
Merritt Anderson
Luxianna Watkins, another participant at tonight’s rally explained that if Roe were to be overturned, the closest abortion clinic would be seven hours away.
“I did the research last night, if the trigger law went into effect at the overturn of Roe v. Wade, then the closest Planned Parenthood would be in Colorado in Fort Collins,” said Watkins. “That’s seven hours away and that’s insane.”
Like Kerr and Anderson, Watkins highlighted how banning abortion rights would further sew class divides, leaving the working class deprived of safe access to abortions.
“The working class and minorities will be taking the brunt of these policies.”
The court is expected to rule on the case before its term ends in late June or early July.
