Hundreds protest in Richmond in the wake of the leak of Roe v. Wade

RICHMOND, Va. — Hundreds of people gathered in Richmond Tuesday night to demonstrate in response to the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion.

On Monday night, Politician published a report saying that a draft opinion circulated among Supreme Court justices suggests that as of early 2022, a majority of them supported overturning Roe v. Wade in 1973 that legalized abortion.

Richmond residents gathered outside the Federal Courthouse to tell lawmakers they want their abortion rights protected. Men, women, nurses, doctors, and students talked about how it’s done and grew excited about the prospect of having their right to abortion taken away.

At some points, attendees chanted my body is my choice and that abortion is a human right, other times they chanted “keep it legal, keep it safe”.

Women’s safety is what drew a nurse to her first rally. She said that abortion is health care and getting rid of it would disproportionately impact the most vulnerable people in society.

“It is very important that we maintain access to our human rights. It’s important enough for me to get out of my comfort zone and introduce myself,” said Emily Wilson.

Other attendees came in costumes from Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale to draw comparisons to the poor treatment of women on the show. They alluded that the program would look similar to reality in 2022 if protections against abortion are eliminated.

They said they wore the costume all day until they were able to gather for the rally.

During the rally, attendees took turns sharing stories, frustrations and fears. Many spoke about how they feel this will be the beginning of the abrogation of other rights and lead people to perform abortions in dangerous ways.

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However, not all Richmonders oppose the possible overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Victoria Cobb of the President Family Foundation said they are cautiously optimistic about the leaked opinion. The Family Foundation advocates for protecting human life and wants to see an end to what they call decades of human lives destroyed by abortion.

“Really, all of this puts it back in the state chambers where we think it belongs as a debate,” Cobb said.

This leaked potential decision comes on the heels of the group marching for lives last week. Pro-life Virginians gathered outside the Virginia State Capitol last Wednesday for their annual March For Life rally.

They believe that most people do not want their taxpayer money going to the abortion industries and want common sense restrictions, including full informed consent.

“I hope we start to see the conversation reset to what, as a majority, we can all agree on,” he said.

CBS6 is told that organizers both for and against women’s reproductive rights are planning more events to advocate.