‘Heartbroken’ Hundreds protest Supreme Court abortion decision in Richland

Hundreds of people angry over the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade lined George Washington Way in Richland on Friday.

Demonstrators said they were frustrated, angry and scared about what a future might be without a constitutionally protected right to abortions. Many of them were too young to remember a time before the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

One protester wore the red cloak from “A Handmaid’s Tale,” while another woman brought a Gadsden flag, which features a snake and the words “Don’t tread on me.”

The rally was organized by the Tri-Cities Women’s March and had been planned before Friday’s decision was released. They had been hosting regular events after the draft decision was leaked in May.

“I am heartbroken and I’m angry,” said Kersten Bergstrom, the organization’s president. “I’m grateful that we live in Washington where access to abortion care is protected.”

The Women’s March wants to find ways to help people who have lost access to safe abortions.

People had been reaching out all day long Bergstrom said. The organization has spoken with the Northwest Abortion Access Fund, Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and Northern Idaho and paired up with Pro-Choice Washington.

“A lot of people are angry, and a lot of people are tired,” she said. “Some other activists are really scared about what is going to happen to women and people with uteruses. What’s going to happen to their lives. ... Millions of Americans lost the right to reproductive freedom, to healthcare access and to family planning.”

Sickened, frustrated and scared

Gayle Wilde said she was sickened by the news when she heard it Friday morning.

The 70-year-old Richland woman marched for abortion rights when she was in college in 1969. She returned to the streets Friday to continue calling for safe access to abortions.

“I woke up this morning with a pit in my stomach,” she said. “I have a daughter and granddaughters and it just makes me cry to think they may have to be out here at my age.”

She plans to work on helping people from Idaho with anything they need so they can get a safe and legal abortion.

Max Halverson, 20, brought a sign with the names of women who had died in Washington before abortions were made legal.

“This morning I woke up to a message on my phone,” he said. “It just made me really angry. ... It’s a human rights issue. It’s everybody’s choice to do what they want with their body.”

For Shir Regev, Friday’s decision took on an added dimension. As a lesbian, she is concerned what Friday’s decision may mean for LGBTQ marriage rights.

The U.S. Supreme Court decision that secured those rights had its roots in Roe v. Wade. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote Friday that the court should reconsider several cases related to contraception access and LGBTQ rights, such as Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same sex marriage.

She came out on Friday to show the community there are people who support a woman’s right to have autonomy over her own body, Regev said.

“I’m flipping pissed,” she said. “It’s one of those things that is like, ‘Where were you when Mount St. Helens erupted?’ ... Appropriately enough, when they were trashing my freedom as a woman, I was taking out the garbage.”