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Thousands Rally, March in Bay Area Cities to Protest Overturning of Roe v. Wade

More than 3,000 people participated in 49 minutes of civil disobedience in San Francisco early Friday evening to mark the 49 years since the landmark decision of Roe v. Wade and the end of constitutional protections for abortion on this day that had been in place since 1973.

Protesters participating in a rally that began at 5 p.m. at the Philip Burton Federal Building, followed by a march to Market Street, where a sit-in began at the intersection with Hyde Street.

There, 49 minutes of civil disobedience commenced to protest today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Following the culmination of those 49 minutes, protesters began marching east on Market Street toward The Embarcadero where the rally is expected to wind up at the Ferry Building.

Rallies were also happening Friday evening in Oakland, Napa and San Jose, as well as in San Mateo, where at Central Park, activists rallied for reproductive rights after news broke of the Supreme Court’s decision.

“This is not the time to be silent,” said Diane Papan, San Mateo’s deputy mayor, who organized this rally. “We are going to merge, organize, donate, vote.”

San Mateo County has enacted a 100-foot buffer zone ordinance to protect access to the local Planned Parenthood Mar Monte clinic and has recently allocated $1 million to support Planned Parenthood and other local abortion clinics in the city’s steps to become a sanctuary for people seeking abortions.

Sen. Josh Becker said he was saddened to be at this afternoon’s rally as a father of an 18-year-old daughter who no longer has the same rights that were in place in the United States since 1973.

“There is a coordinated right-wing extremist attack on women. There is going to be potentially an attack on LGBTQ individuals,” said Assemblymember Kevin Mullin, who represents San Mateo and Redwood City in the 22nd Assembly District.

Rally attendees held posters reading “Justices lied, now women will die” and “I Love Pro-Choice California”, also shouting “our bodies our rights.”

Friday’s decision, which came more than a month after the leak of a draft opinion by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, indicating the high court was prepared to take this step. Friday’s outcome is expected to lead to abortion bans in about half of the 50 states.

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