Abortion reaction updates: 4 arrested, several detained after protesters push down fencing
Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article gave the wrong location for the Arizona state Capitol. The Capitol is located at Washington Street and 17th Avenue in Phoenix.
The U.S. Supreme Court's Friday ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturned Roe v. Wade and allows states to set their own course on abortion laws.
How this will impact Arizonans is yet to be determined.
The state has two laws on the books banning abortion, one that's from 158 years ago and another brand new one. It is unclear which ban will prevail. Experts told The Arizona Republic that we can expect an immediate challenge to the state's anti-abortion laws, as well as a direct or implied threat of prosecution for abortion providers.
Uncertainty over the future of abortion rights in the state is pushing many to organize across the U.S.
Follow coverage of the reaction to the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade by Republic reporters here.
11:30 a.m. Sunday: 4 arrested, several detained after protesters push down fencing
Four people were arrested Saturday night and several others were detained by state police after protesters pulled down temporary fencing around the Arizona Capitol.
Saturday marked the second day in which thousands of people gathered near the Arizona Capitol complex as a result of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
According to Bart Graves, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety, four people were arrested on suspicion of rioting and disorderly conduct.
Legal observers also attended the protests and were among the numerous people who were detained by state police.
Russel Facente, 37, attended the protests as a legal observer with Central Arizona chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, a nonprofit that provides legal assistance.
"The purpose of legal observers is to essentially monitor police activity because cops lie," Facente said. "Cops will create false narratives, overcharge people, arrest indiscriminately."
He, along with others who were detained, was taken to a DPS staging area behind the Capitol complex.
"We were put against a fence and told 'You're all under arrest for trespassing and disorderly conduct," Facente said. "It went beyond a pat-down. They took belongings out of our pockets, took our backpacks and put them into evidence and kept us cuffed."
Facente says he and three other legal observers were processed and photographed and were later released from custody between 1-1:30 a.m. on Sunday.
9:30 p.m. Saturday: Man detained, released at Phoenix protest
Hundreds of people continued to gather at the Arizona Capitol on Saturday night to protest the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.
Protesters marched around the premises of the Capitol building, which was fenced off early Saturday following a separate protest that drew thousands of people to the area Friday night.
“Having an abortion affects nobody besides the person having the abortion,” said Suzy Olson, who was at the protest.
“My cat has more reproductive rights than me,” said Olson. “My cat got neutered and they asked me ‘if your cat happens to get pregnant, would you like to terminate the pregnancy?’”
Demonstrators also sat on 17th Avenue in front of the Capitol.
People chanted, “Keep your rosaries off my ovaries,” “Her body, her choice,” “My body, my choice,” “Pro-life is a lie, you don’t care if people die” and “Off my body, keep your hands.”
Groups of protesters wore all black and protective goggles in case of tear-gas deployment from law enforcement.
One man, who was wearing a mask and black clothes, was detained by troopers with the Arizona Department of Public Safety. The man had on a medic vest and a few bags. Troopers searched his bag for any potential weapons. He was then released after only medical supplies was found.
Drones operated by DPS also hovered over the demonstration.
It remains unclear who organized the event.
The Phoenix branch of Radical Women and Arizona Planned Parenthood helped to organize Friday’s protest, but neither organization says it was involved in putting Saturday’s demonstration together. Radical Women issued a statement cautioning attendees to be careful.
Andrew Feldman, a spokesperson for AZPP, told The Arizona Republic that the group was not involved in organizing Saturday night’s event and was unsure who was.
8:40 p.m. Saturday: Hundreds march in downtown Phoenix for abortion rights
Hundreds gathered at the Arizona Capitol complex surrounding the fencing that had been put up earlier Saturday.
Crews were out Saturday morning and afternoon putting up fences around complex buildings after protesters reportedly vandalized several memorials in the area. Saturday night, protesters could be seen demonstrating along the fence perimeter.
Demonstrators continuously marched rather than assembled in one location. There were no apparent lead organizers or speakers.
The Phoenix branch of Radical Women helped to organize Friday’s protest. The group issued a statement on Saturday cautioning attendees to be careful, as it was unclear who was organizing Saturday night’s protest.
“We do not have an event planned for tonight,” the statement said. “We do not know who posted the event shared on the Bans Off Our Bodies website for tonight. None of the local groups we are in touch with know about this event.”
Radical Women cautioned anybody who attends to be prepared for “more police escalation and more involvement from the state police.”
7:15 p.m. Saturday: Second night of protests for abortion rights in Phoenix
Another protest is planned to be held at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Arizona Capitol Complex following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling Friday morning.
The court's decision ended the constitutional right to an abortion and triggered protests across the U.S.
As of Friday morning, demonstrators had already gathered outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. By the evening, thousands had gathered in downtown Phoenix before the event was declared to be an unlawful assembly by the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
At approximately 8:30 p.m., a bloc of protesters gathered outside the Arizona Senate building and chanted, “We won’t go back!” to a handful of onlookers inside.
When demonstrators began hitting the glass walls and doors of the building, SWAT officers deployed tear gas to disperse the crowd. One protester was seen breaking a window before others yelled at him to stop.
Minutes later, law enforcement officials declared an unlawful assembly.
Senate members could be seen taking refuge in the Senate lobby as a cloud of tear gas hung in the air.
Hours earlier, several thousand demonstrators had marched through downtown Phoenix for the Women's March in front of the Arizona Capitol. The Party for Socialism and Liberation and the Phoenix branch of Radical Women also had planned to be protesting.
No arrests or injuries were reported, according to DPS officials.
— Lillian Boyd
1:30 p.m. Saturday: 'We're still going to be fighting as hard as ever'
Hundreds gathered in front of the Arizona State Capitol to celebrate the repeal of Roe v. Wade and demand more efforts from state lawmakers in protecting the unborn.
Supports for the repeal held signs that read "protection at conception," "pro-life feminist" and "We are the post-Roe generation."
Jordyn Brittain, the regional coordinator of Students for Life in Arizona, said the organization had been preparing for today's event for months.
"We knew that whether it was a win or a lose for the pro-life movement yesterday, we wanted to show that we're still going to be fighting as hard as ever to protect life from conception," Brittain said.
A crowd of about 50 counter-protestors also showed up at the northeast corner of the State Capitol, by the House of Representatives building.
Rhys Brown, a counter-protestor, said both demonstrations happened at the same time by coincidence, and that he was surprised to see the celebration for Roe's overturning taking place.
Brown said the Supreme Court decision was "unjustifiable" and that he showed up in support of women choosing whether they want an abortion or not.
A brief clash occurred between protesters from both rallies.
Demonstrators in favor of abortion rights started chanting "my body, my choice" as two anti-abortion demonstrators walked through the crowd, waiting to cross the sidewalk.
The anti-abortion demonstrators started filming the crowd with their phones as they said "you're killing babies, stop killing babies."
The protests dissolved at about 1:15 p.m.
— Laura Daniella Sepulveda
11 a.m. Saturday:
'Life is Louder' rally to take place in Phoenix in support of Roe v. Wade reversal
A pro-life rally is expected to take place at the Arizona State Capitol building Saturday morning in support of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
The event will be organized by Students for Life Action, a national anti-abortion youth organization, as part of a national mobilization to celebrate "a post-Roe America," according to a statement from the organization.
"Life is Louder" rallies are expected to take place in about 32 states including Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Alabama, Colorado and California, among others.
Events were expected to be held at each state's capitol building at 11 a.m. local time, according to the organization's website.
According to a statement from the organization, the demonstrations are meant to celebrate the end of what pro-life activists say was an "egregiously" wrong decision taken in favor of Roe about 5 decades ago.
Efforts from the organization will now focus on law-making at the state level to protect lives, according to the statement.
"Our nation's most egregious sin, one that cost more than 63 million innocent lives, has finally been righted. It's time to celebrate and buckle down to do more work," the organization stated.
— Laura Daniella Sepulveda
10:45 p.m. Friday: One window broke at state building
After the protesters had largely dispersed in downtown Phoenix, one person broke a window at the state Department of Agriculture building on Adams Street, while others booed the person for doing so.
Clouds of tear gas lingered heavily in the courtyard between the Arizona Senate and House of Representatives buildings, preventing anyone from entering the area.
Samantha McClintock, 26, and Ryan Wullf, 31, both of Phoenix, arrived late to the Roe protest and were in the crowd that was hit with tear gas. They said a crowd had gathered between the House and Senate buildings and some protesters were banging on the glass doors and windows of the Senate. They didn't know the Legislature was in session at the time.
By 9:30 p.m., crowds had left the area after police declared it an unlawful assembly.
Neither Phoenix Police Department nor Arizona Department of Public Safety has responded to requests for comment. It is unclear whether police arrested anyone in connection to the protest.
Protests in Flagstaff and Tucson remained mostly peaceful. No incidents with law enforcement were reported in Flagstaff. In Tucson, police blocked off traffic from protesters demonstrating downtown. No arrests were reported.
9:30 p.m. Friday: Unlawful assembly at downtown Phoenix rally
At approximately 8:30 p.m., a bloc of protesters gathered outside the Arizona Senate building and chanted, “We won’t go back!” to a handful of onlookers inside.
When demonstrators began hitting the glass walls and doors of the building, SWAT officers deployed tear gas to disperse the crowd. One protester was seen breaking a window before others yelled at him to stop.
Minutes later, law enforcement officials declared an unlawful assembly.
House members could be seen taking refuge in the House lobby as a cloud of tear gas hung in the air.
Hours earlier, several thousand demonstrators had marched through downtown Phoenix for the Women's March in front of the Arizona Capitol. The Party for Socialism and Liberation and the Phoenix branch of Radical Women also had planned to be protesting.
— Perry Vandell and Ray Stern
8:40 p.m.: Senate calls recess, cites security threat
Senate President Karen Fann abruptly called a recess to Senate work and evacuated lawmakers and staff to the Senate basement after protesters attending a rally after the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade pounded on Senate windows and doors.
"We have a security threat outside," Fann said, trying to hurry along a handful of public-school supporters who had unfurled a banner expressing their disgust with the Senate's approval of universal vouchers.
People soon returned to the Senate floor, including guests who had been seated in the Senate's gallery to watch the voucher vote.
— Mary Jo Pitzl
8 p.m. Friday: 'It’s very murky water': Traffic blocked at downtown Tucson protest
About 1,000 demonstrators gathered in downtown Tucson, pouring onto Congress Street and blocking traffic.
“We do not know what abortion future looks like in Arizona. It’s very murky water,” Amy Fitch-Heacock said. “As of today, all abortion care in the state of Arizona has ceased pending legal ramifications.”
Fitch-Heacock is one of the organizers of the Tucson Women’s March and the founder of Arizonans for Reproductive Freedom. She added that she believes this will become a “worst-case scenario very soon.”
“I fight because I know what happens to women who are denied abortion care … I fight because I know what happens to single mothers who raise children alone abandoned by the men who promised to show up,” Fitch-Heacock said.
She asked people to sign petitions to enshrine abortion rights into the Arizona State Constitution.
“We are going to keep on fighting because the people who took our rights today are counting on us being too tired to fight back.”
At about 8 p.m., law enforcement officials began blocking traffic near the federal courthouse.
Vera Antranik, one of the thousands of people who attended the Phoenix protest, described the overturning of Roe v. Wade as a blatant attack on health care and women’s rights.
“You’re not able to make decisions about your own body,” Antranik said. “I don’t think that crusty old men in the Supreme Court should have any say when they don’t understand what it’s like to go through that.”
Antranik asserted that those claiming to be “pro-life” care more about an unborn fetus than a child’s well-being after they’re born and referenced the 19 elementary school children who were massacred in Uvalde, Texas.
— Sarah Lapidus
7:30 p.m. Friday: Thousands march in downtown Phoenix to protest
Several thousand demonstrators marched through downtown Phoenix. A Women's March protest was planned for 7 p.m. in front of the Arizona Capitol. The Party for Socialism and Liberation and the Phoenix branch of Radical Women also planned to protest at the same place and time.
In Tucson, the Women's March chapter of the city drew nearly 300 demonstrators to the Evo A. DeConcini Federal Courthouse.
“We need to show up in solidarity, and we need to show up at that ballot box,” said Faith Ramon with Arizona Center for Empowerment.
About 5 miles east, about 50 people gathered at Reid Park, including Corinn Cooper with Arizonans for Reproductive Freedom.
“I've been fighting for women's rights for 50 years,” Cooper said. “I did not expect to see rights granted by the Constitution removed from women, and I, frankly, worry that this damage won't be undone in my lifetime."
At the Flagstaff protest, petitions and voter registration forms were passed around the crowd with organizers encouraging people to translate their unhappiness into tangible change in the ballot box. One petition hopes to present voters this fall with a ballot initiative for the right to an abortion to be codified in the Arizona Constitution.
Crowds began to disperse after 6:30 p.m. after a march. No incidents with law enforcement were reported.
— Sarah Lapidus, Sam Burdette, Perry Vandell and Lacey Latch
7 p.m. Friday: 'Even though it was expected, it's still profoundly disturbing'
The dark monsoon clouds rolling in overhead did not deter more than 100 people who gathered on the south lawn of Flagstaff City Hall. Impassioned protesters lined one of the cities' main thoroughfares with signs and bullhorns campaigning for reproductive rights.
"Even though it was expected, it's still profoundly disturbing," Debra Block, one of the rally's organizers, said of the court's decision.
Block, like many of her counterparts in the long fight for reproductive rights, has been at this for decades.
She went to her first abortion rally in Detroit in the early 1970s. Years later, Block is now a mother fighting for her rights as well as her child's.
"I should be done with this and I'm not," Block said.
About half an hour after the rally began, the group began a march through town and around the courthouse before returning to City Hall and blocking traffic along historic Route 66 until being directed back onto the grass by police.
Cassidy Griffith and Charlotte Willin, two Northern Arizona University student, came to the rally to show support for what they say is a healthcare issue.
"I believe abortion is health care," Willin said. "I'm a public health major and I believe it's a right that people should be able to have an abortion if they would like one."
"It is health care," Griffith agreed. "I plan to be an OB/GYN, and I am going to fight until my dying days for them to have this right because it is their right no matter what and no one should stay in their way."
"My grandma grew up in the '60s doing this, my mom grew up doing this and now I'm doing it," Griffith said. "You know, three generations of women fighting for our rights to have bodily autonomy."
— Lacey Latch
6:45 p.m. Friday: 'I will always fight for them'
About 70 demonstrators gathered on either side of Congress Street in front of the Evo A. DeConcini Federal Courthouse ahead of the rally scheduled for 7 p.m.
Amy Fitch-Heacock is one of the organizers of the Tucson Women’s March and the founder of Arizonans for Reproductive Freedom. She says people in rural areas already struggled to gain access to health care and abortion before today’s court decision.
“We have abortion providers mostly in the cities. Rural health care across the United States has always been a challenge,” Fitch-Heacock said. “Here in Arizona even though we don’t have an existing law that went into effect today, our abortion providers stopped providing abortions in anticipation of the legal challenges.”
Fitch-Heacock says she is a reproductive rights advocate because she knows what it’s like to not have access to abortion.
“This is not going to impact people who are in the Supreme Court. This isn’t going to impact the people who are in Congress, this will impact people who are already at a disadvantage,” Fitch-Heacock said. “I will always fight for them and for myself.”
1 p.m. Friday: Protests planned for Phoenix, Tucson
Women's March chapters in Phoenix and Tucson have planned protests in their respective cities on Friday night, and they are expected to be the largest in the State.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision Friday morning, ending a constitutional right to an abortion, protests are expected to occur across the U.S.
As of Friday morning, demonstrators have already gathered outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, DC.
In Phoenix, a Women's March protest is planned for 7 p.m. in front of the Arizona State Capitol. The Party for Socialism and Liberation and the Phoenix branch of Radical Women will also be protesting at the same place and time.
In Tucson, the Women's March chapter of the city will host a protest at 7 p.m. in front of the U.S. District Court in downtown Tucson.
— Sam Burdette and Sarah Lapidus
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Abortion reaction updates: Man detained, released at Phoenix protest
