Roe v Wade May 3 Protest
A protest in support of Roe v. Wade at the UC Berkeley campus on May 3, 2022. Credit: Supriya Yelimeli

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday morning repealed Roe v. Wade, a 1973 landmark ruling that protected women’s right to an abortion for nearly 50 years. Several protests are planned throughout the Bay Area this weekend to rebuke this decision.

In California and the East Bay, state-level protections guarantee the majority of abortion rights.

State legislators are currently working on expanding clinics and introducing even stronger supportive laws. This includes protections for doctors who travel out of state to perform abortions, which could become necessary as dozens of states throughout the United States are preparing to ban the procedure altogether. Healthcare experts have not determined exactly how demand in California will rise as it becomes one of the few remaining providers.

Protest actions are planned in Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose and throughout the East Bay beginning Friday evening to show opposition to the Supreme Court’s Ruling.

Friday

Oakland: Bans off our bodies protest, 5 p.m., 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza

San Francisco:

Saturday

Berkeley: 6 p.m.: Speak Out Now at Cal is holding an open mic and rally for reproductive rights, Sproul Plaza at UC Berkeley

Additional rallies and protests are happening throughout the Bay Area this weekend. You can find more information on Funcheap SF and IndyBay‘s event calendar. KQED has also created a guide on how to safely attend a rally during COVID-19.

Supriya Yelimeli is a housing and homelessness reporter for Berkeleyside and joined the staff in May 2020 after contributing reporting since 2018 as a freelance writer. Yelimeli grew up in Fremont and...