Like many Californians, 67-year-old Tamar Rosenthal woke Friday to news of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn its landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling, clearing the way for states to outlaw abortion.
Her daughter, 26, was almost in tears, but the ruling reminded Rosenthal of being back in college, protesting for safe and legal abortions in the early 1970s when she was at the University of Oklahoma.
Rosenthal did the only thing she could think of: She put on her green T-shirt that read, “Bans off our bodies,” and drove to Planned Parenthood on Figueroa in Highland Park. Around lunchtime, she was the only person demonstrating outside.
“We’ve now lost a right that we’ve had for almost 50 years,” Rosenthal said. “I think people are shellshocked.”
Though abortion will remain protected and legal in California, residents and stakeholders across the Golden State expressed outrage and grief at the court’s decision. Some, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, vowed to fight back.
Read more at the Los Angeles Times.