Downtown, Chicagoans and tourists react to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v, Wade as demonstrations grow
As the country reeled from Friday morning’s Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, sending abortion rights back to the states, working professionals and tourists milling downtown in the Loop shared their reaction to the news as pro-abortion and anti-abortion demonstrators began to grow at Federal Plaza.
“I’m really disappointed. Like I wanna cry,” said Linda Boulton, from the city’s Far South Side neighborhood Fernwood.
She said that although she is not concerned for her immediate safety, her like-minded cousins in Mississippi are really concerned because they don’t all have the ability to up and leave.
Roe was struck down when the Supreme Court voted 6 to 3 on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, upholding the legality of a 2018 Mississippi law that banned abortion past 15 weeks of gestation.
A handful of abortion rights demonstrators started to gather at Federal Plaza as the Pro-Life Action League began setting up their platform stage and banners.
An abortion rights demonstrator approached the anti-abortion group and shared his story about his mother’s abortion. He said if she didn’t end the pregnancy, she would have been stuck in an abusive relationship.
His anger escalated as he told the story and began to yell. He pulled up the sleeve of his T-shirt to reveal a cross tattoo, saying, “I’m a Christian too.”
”My God is your God. … Read the (expletive) bible,” he said.
Matt Yonke, from Pro-Life Action League, said that in the 15 years he has been demonstrating with the organization, reactions like that are not uncommon.
He said he is a Catholic, and that inspires his stance, though he is excited by younger activists in the anti-abortion movement who are atheists. Meanwhile, a woman stopped at the red light on Adams Street and Dearborn Street, yelling through her car window: “Pro-life is a lie, you want women to die.”
Susan Buchanan, a 60-year-old woman from Oak Park, stuck both her middle fingers in the air in lieu of a sign as the small abortion rights crowd chanted.
”I’m seething for all the young women that aren’t gonna have the rights that I had when I had my abortion,” she said.
Miguel Gutierrez, a 51-year-old man visiting Chicago from Brooklyn, New York, wore a T-shirt that read “Thank god for abortion.”
He said that he attended an abortion rights rally in New York City a few weeks ago as well, saying, “You have to put your body on the line.”
”None of this is a surprise. If you’re half-awake you know what’s happening,” he said.
Julisa Colon, from Brookfield, said she heard about the ruling on Instagram because all of her female friends were posting about it.
She said she is concerned about the strain on Planned Parenthood when residents from other states come to Illinois to access an abortion and about the safety of women trying to access illegal abortions across the country.
”I’m very angry,” she said. She said she’s in favor of abortion rights because she has had an abortion herself. “I would have had a child with someone who was not a partner.”
