By: Ashmar Mandou

Pro-Choice and Pro-Life demonstrators took over downtown on Tuesday over the recent leaked draft report suggesting Roe vs. Wade will be overturned. The pro-choice protestors state the possible Supreme Court decision will send “women back decades and that women should have a right to their own bodies.” In 1973, the court found there was a constitutional right to abortion by a vote of 7 to 2. This decision was again highlighted in 1992 and reaffirmed in the court case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Many more events on both sides of the debate are scheduled, including a “Week of Resistance” announced by multiple pro-choice groups in the city. These events will begin May 8, and are expected to culminate in a rally at Millennium Park on May 14. Several public figures released statements over the controversy.

“Like millions of others, today was a devastating realization that both our freedom and our future are at risk. If Roe is overturned after 50-years of being the law of the land, millions will lose access to safe and fundamental healthcare and the ability of women to make their own decisions about their bodies will be stripped away.  The social and economic consequences for working families- especially Black and Brown women – will be destructive.  Restricting access to healthcare has the biggest impact on working families. Reproductive rights are a labor rights issue.” –SEIU Local 1 President Genie Kastrup

“The GOP’s decades-long war against a woman’s right to choose may finally result in the outcome we’ve always feared: the disregard of a 49-year-old precedent to overturn constitutionally protected reproductive rights. Let me be clear, limiting access to vital health care does not make it go away––it just makes it more dangerous. That’s why, as governor, my administration protected the right to choose in state law.” –Governor JB Pritzker

“Tonight, I join the chorus of millions of people nationwide who are sickened and enraged to learn that the Supreme Court has seemingly voted to strike down Roe v. Wade. This landmark decision has paved the way for women in need of reproductive care to access safe abortions for decades and importantly, decide for themselves the circumstances under which they chose to bear children. If this draft opinion becomes the law of the land, women and their families will suffer, needlessly.” –Mayor Lori Lightfoot

“Today, I am deeply saddened to say that Roe v. Wade, a vital protection for reproductive rights and bodily autonomy in America that has stood for decades, is under threat by a polarized and partisan Supreme Court. Millions of women and people who may get pregnant across the country will, if this decision—made by a group of mostly men—goes forward, have their fundamental rights to bodily autonomy endangered. And of course, as is sadly so often the case, the burden of the dangers will fall disproportionately on Black, Brown, Indigenous and poor women.” –State Rep. Camille Lilly