{"id":40810,"date":"2022-05-04T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-04T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-reacts-to-draft-decision-that-would-overturn-roe-v-wade\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:57:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:57:49","slug":"durango-reacts-to-draft-decision-that-would-overturn-roe-v-wade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-reacts-to-draft-decision-that-would-overturn-roe-v-wade\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango reacts to draft decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Emily
Emily Ciszek, left, and Tiare Flora hold signs as they gather Tuesday with about 100 other protesters at Buckley Park after the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s draft decision that would strike down Roe v. Wade. The protesters marched to the La Plata County Courthouse where they rallied and spoke in favor of reproductive rights. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Abortion-rights supporters in Durango were incensed while those opposed to abortion were cautiously optimistic as Durangoans reacted Tuesday to news that a leaked draft decision from the U.S. Supreme Court showed justices intend to overturn Roe v. Wade.<\/p>\n

But while the two sides took up their positions, both acknowledge that the decision by the Supreme Court would have limited impact in Durango and Southwest Colorado.<\/p>\n

Indivisible Durango, the local chapter of the nationwide progressive advocacy group, along with community activist Harrison Wendt, organized a response rally for 5 p.m. Tuesday that aligned with national protests.<\/p>\n

Dozens of protesters showed up to the rally, including a large contingent of high school students, marching from Buckley Park to the La Plata County Courthouse. They carried signs that read \u201cFreedom over reproduction,\u201d \u201cKeep abortion safe and legal\u201d and \u201cBans off our bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just wanted to show solidarity with other cities across the country who are expressing their absolute outrage over this ruling over this apparent SCOTUS ruling,\u201d said Anne Markward, a member of Indivisible Durango\u2019s coordinating council, in an interview.<\/p>\n

Katie Stewart and Mary Quinn attended the rally because they were furious when they heard the news Monday that the Supreme Court was likely to strike down Roe after the release a draft opinion from Justice Samuel Alito.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlain and simple it\u2019s not going to happen,\u201d Quinn said. \u201cWomen can do a lot and we will do a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"About
About 100 people marched from Buckley Park to the La Plata County Courthouse on Tuesday as they protested a leaked decision that shows the U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to overturn Roe v. Wade. Gov. Jared Polis signed into law the Reproductive Health Equity Act last month protecting the right to an abortion in Colorado state law. However, protesters said they were speaking out to support those in other states where abortion bans are already in place, or soon will be, and to call for national action from Colorado\u2019s representatives. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Though Colorado firmly supports abortion rights after Gov. Jared Polis signed the Reproductive Health Equity Act into law last month, Stewart said she was speaking out for all of those who would be affected by the ruling.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had four children, and I have a bonus kid. I\u2019m really fighting for the rights of other people with uteruses that maybe they don\u2019t know where they are yet. I\u2019m fighting for the rights of my daughter,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cIt\u2019s not about me. It\u2019s about everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Colorado has encoded the right to an abortion in state law, Quinn said the Supreme Court\u2019s draft ruling would allow for the erosion of that right if Colorado\u2019s politics were to change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best thing I\u2019ve heard is you have to protect your own backyard,\u201d Quinn said. \u201cWe can\u2019t take a chance if it seeps in. I\u2019m from Florida, I\u2019m a queer woman who grew up Catholic, and I refuse to go back to that. So it\u2019s not coming in my backyard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Markward said the rally was not so much about speaking out about the local implications of the draft decision. Instead, the intent was to push Colorado\u2019s representatives to pressure their colleagues to address women\u2019s reproductive rights through national legislation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are doing this to encourage (Sens.) Bennet and Hickenlooper and everyone else at (the) state level government to do what they can to help us put the pressure on recalcitrant members (of Congress) and make them realize that their votes have cost women all over the country our bodily autonomy rights and we\u2019re pissed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Harrison
Harrison Wendt, right, one of the organizers of Tuesday\u2019s reproductive rights march leads about 100 protesters from Buckley Park to the La Plata County Courthouse. The rally was less about speaking out about the local implications of the draft decision and more about pushing Colorado\u2019s representatives to pressure their colleagues to address women\u2019s reproductive rights through national legislation. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

It was a point that Teal Lehto, another rally attendee, reiterated.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really important that our elected officials know that their constituents really care about this issue,\u201d Lehto said. \u201cThey\u2019re the ones who are going to be able to affect change on a national level and that\u2019s what we really need. It\u2019s important that our elected officials know there\u2019s a large number of constituents that are vocal and active about this issue so they know that there\u2019s a lot at stake especially with an election coming up.\u201d<\/p>\n

While reproductive rights advocates were frustrated, those who oppose abortion took Monday\u2019s leak and the Supreme Court\u2019s preliminary ruling as a positive, if premature, sign.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re definitely hopeful, but since an official decision hasn\u2019t been made, we don\u2019t feel like it\u2019s time to celebrate,\u201d said Shelley Gundrey, treasurer of LifeGuard, a Durango anti-abortion group.<\/p>\n

While Gundrey viewed the repeal of Roe as a boost to anti-abortion advocates, she was also hesitant about the implications for Colorado.<\/p>\n

With unsuccessful personhood efforts that have sought legal status and rights for unborn babies and new reproductive legislation in the state, she expressed concern that the ruling could send women from other states to Colorado for abortions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a sticky situation because then you\u2019ll have abortion tourism in a sense where people are traveling for (the procedure),\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"About
About 100 people march from Buckley Park to the La Plata County Courthouse on Tuesday to protest the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s draft decision in a Mississippi case that would spell the end for abortion protections and national reproductive rights. Opponents of abortion in Durango hesitantly celebrated the preliminary decision, though Shelley Gundrey, treasurer of LifeGuard, a Durango anti-abortion group, said more people may pursue abortions in Durango and Colorado because of the ruling. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

On Monday, Politico reported the Supreme Court is set to overturn the decades-old ruling in Roe v. Wade that established the right to an abortion after someone leaked the 98-page draft decision.<\/p>\n

The court has yet to rule a final decision, but if the draft decision holds true, the Supreme Court will side with Mississippi in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization, removing the right to an abortion and returning the decision to the states.<\/p>\n

Numerous states have already passed abortion bans or legislation that would immediately ban abortions if Roe were overturned. Colorado\u2019s neighbors of Oklahoma, Utah and Arizona have already instituted some form of abortion ban, while in March, Wyoming passed legislation that would trigger a ban if the Supreme Court overrules Roe, according to CNN and NPR.<\/p>\n

In all, 26 states could ban abortion, including five of Colorado\u2019s seven immediate neighbors, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion advocacy group.<\/p>\n

\n