Horns honked and drivers waved in solidarity as hundreds gathered at the State Capitol in Denver on June 27. The crowd was there to rally in support of reproductive rights after a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.
The Dobbs decision upheld a Mississippi state law banning abortion after 15 weeks. In doing so, it opened the door to the reversal of both Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case establishing a constitutional right to abortion, and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a 1992 decision reaffirming that right.
Demonstrators of all ages and genders carried signs, chanted slogans and marched from the Capitol through parts of central Denver. Police shut down roads including North Broadway to allow the peaceful crowd to demonstrate.
The event was the third protest around abortion access since the controversial Dobbs ruling was announced June 24.
A study by research and policy organization, The Guttmacher Institute, claims that at least 26 states are certain or likely to ban abortion in the wake of the reversal of Roe v. Wade. In Colorado, abortion will remain legal barring federal legislation or a change in state law.
Maryjane Chavez, who came to the Capitol with her daughter, said she's worried the Supreme Court may soon target other individual liberty rights like same-sex marriage — widely held to be granted under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
