'We are not going back': Boulder residents protest Roe v. Wade decision
Jun. 25—It's been nearly five decades since Mitch Stahl first advocated for abortion rights.
On Saturday morning, she marched again. In Stahl's view, collective action is one of the main ways to impact causes she cares about and to stay aware and informed.
"We can't do a lot, but we can try to keep conscious," she said.
Stahl and about 40 others — nearly all of whom were residents of Boulder's Frasier Meadows retirement community — took a lap around Thunderbird Lake at Admiral Arleigh A. Burke Park in protest of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on Friday to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The Saturday morning march was organized by Boulder resident Peter Dawson, who is a precinct leader with the Boulder County Democratic Party.
He and others regularly organize protests at the park across from Frasier Meadows for causes ranging from gun control to health care access.
"When I see something that ought to be fixed, I try to fix it," he said.
Dawson's mood of the moment? Indignation.
He said he felt this way for a number of reasons, but perhaps mostly because of his perspective as a public health professional. The Supreme Court's decision will exacerbate social injustices across the country, Dawson argued.
Plenty of those marching Saturday carried signs with messages including, "Abort the Supreme Court" and, "We are not going back."
Hazel Cope was among those in attendance, toting a sign that read, "Abort the GOP and the Supreme Court."
Cope acknowledged that abortion can be a sensitive and often deeply personal subject.
"It's a very fraught question, and you think hard about it," she said. "But you should have the right to make the decision."
Before the crowd took off on their march around the pond, Tina Mueh, a former board member of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains and a former chair of its Action Fund, shared a few remarks.
The Supreme Court ruling will have disparate impacts, she noted.
"Communities of color and people living in poverty — for whom, by the way, access has never been very equitable, even under Roe — but those of course will be the communities that are hardest hit," Mueh said.
She also recognized the work of Frasier Meadows Dems and said they're known for being "a big deal."
"May everyone in Boulder have the same engagement and passion when it's our time to come and join you here at Frasier Meadows," Mueh said.
