Columbia abortion rights protesters march in response to Roe v. Wade leak

Katherine Cox-Littrell cried Monday.

On Tuesday, she planned, marched and raged against the politicians and Supreme Court justices who want to end legal abortion.

The Rock Bridge High School junior responded to the leak of a draft opinion by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito that indicates the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide would be overturned.

Cox-Littrell spoke into a bullhorn to the 175 or so people who gathered Tuesday evening on the steps of the Boone County Courthouse.

The Columbia protesters joined tens of thousands of others around the country.

She was encouraged by the turnout, she told the gathered crowd.

"I was sexually assaulted on a school trip at 14," she said. "I was terrified I was going to become a mother before I was in high school."

More: Mizzou law professor, statewide rights groups react to the Roe v. Wade draft opinion leak

She had a mother who was supportive and told her she would help her get an abortion if she needed one, she said.

But the Supreme Court may change that for future generations, she said.

"The fact that right is being taken away disgusts me," Cox-Littrell said, to cheers from the crowd.

In an interview, Cox-Littrell talked about her tears when the news came out Monday.

"I began to cry and I was very scared," she said.

She learned of planned nationwide protest on Tuesday. She began to make flyers and recruited others to make them, she said.

She had previously helped stage a walkout at her school to protest the school board's revocation of its mask requirement in December, she said.

When she arrived downtown, she met up with University of Missouri student Sarah Peters and they decided on a plan, she said.

Those gathered marched from the courthouse to Peace Park on campus on back.

Some chants:

"We won't go back."

"My body, my choice."

"Ho Ho, Hey Hey, Roe v. Wade has got to stay."

Peters said she grew up in a religious Catholic family that was completely against abortion.

"We are not alone," Peters said as the crowd cheered. "This is a nationwide event."

MU junior Shayna Crosby said her grandmother and mother came to events like this to fight for abortion rights. Now she's here.

"Wake up, America," she said. "My body, my f---ing choice. We won't go back."

Speakers were frequently interrupted by supportive honks from passing cars.

Politicians won't stop with ending Roe v. Wade, said MU student Lexie Cheek.

"It is the right to privacy," she said.

Next will be gay marriage and interracial marriage, she said.

"It starts with abortion rights gone," Cheek said. "It does not end there."

Her points were reinforced later by attorney Dan Viets.

Alito argues in the leaked opinion that because abortion isn't mentioned in the Constitution, it's not protected, Viets said.

"The right to same-sex marriage is a target," Viets said. "The very concept of privacy also is in jeopardy."

The crowd was encouraged to register to vote by several speakers, including Chimene Schwach, Democratic candidate for state representative in the 47th House District.

"If you are not registered to vote, you need to get registered to vote," Schwach said.

Abortion rights were already under threat before the draft opinion, said Angela Huntington, abortion rights navigator for Planned Parenthood Great Plains.

"We have people traveling over 800 miles to Kansas from Texas to get abortions," Huntington said.

Planned Parenthood pays for abortions, gas cards and flights for women, she said.

Charity Clark said she's concerned about her daughter.

"I have a 15-year-old daughter and I'm worried about her rights," Clark said.

She told the crowd of her daughter's idea.

"What if all conservatives are forced to donate their organs when they die?" Clark said her daughter told her one day.

Anti-abortion conservatives could keep thousands of people alive by doing it, she said.

"We have a right to our bodies, no one else," said Kate Canterbury, with CoMo for Progress. "Not parents, not lawmakers, not judges."

Cox-Littrell said the mix of university students, high school students, older adults, children, women and men joining the protest was encouraging.

"It's people that aren't going to go back," Cox-Littrell said.

Roger McKinney is the education reporter for the Tribune. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Columbia abortion rights protesters respond to leaked draft opinion