‘Can’t believe we have to go through this again:’ Idahoans protest abortion decision
Sydney Fidler, 76, remembers when her friends from college would have to go across the Mexican border to obtain an abortion for an unwanted pregnancy.
Fidler, along with hundreds of people, gathered in downtown Boise’s Cherie Buckner-Webb Park on Saturday to protest the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to reverse two landmark abortion cases and leave decisions on abortion rights to the states. The decision was announced Friday morning.
“Before we had this, I was one of those girls in the dormitory with friends who used coat hangers, it was terrible trying to get an abortion,” Fidler said in an interview with the Idaho Statesman ahead of the protest. “I remember it, and I can’t believe we have to go through this again.”
Idaho’s trigger law banning nearly all abortions will take effect this summer — 30 days after the Supreme Court formalizes its decision, the Idaho Statesman previously reported. The law makes it a felony for any health care provider to perform or attempt to perform an abortion outside of a few exceptions.
Saturday’s protest was organized by Idaho Abortion Rights, Planned Parenthood, Southwest Idaho NOW, Legal Voice, the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho and Noelle West Ihli, a local activist.
Protesters hear from OBGYN, organizers, city leader
Kimra Luna is the co-founder of Idaho Abortion Rights and said they have been helping fund abortions for people in Idaho for three years.
Idaho Abortion Rights is a mutual aid organization that helps pay for people to obtain abortion pills and for travel expenses to obtain abortions out of state, Luna said.
“It’s a daily thing of people needing abortion access, and not having the funds to do it,” Luna said in an interview. “I feel like that’s getting even worse. And obviously lack of access to abortions disproportionately affects the poor, Black, Indigenous, brown communities, LGBTQ communities.”
Seven people spoke at Saturday’s protest, including Boise City Councilwoman Lisa Sanchez and retired Boise OBGYN Duane St. Clair.
St. Clair spent 30 years in Boise delivering babies and specializing in women’s reproductive health. He remembers when Roe v. Wade was decided and he chose to start offering abortions to people in Idaho who wanted to end a pregnancy. There were few physicians in Idaho who were willing to face the backlash from patients and the public that came with offering abortion services, he said.
“No one could stop me from providing the safe, competent and legal care that women deserve,” St. Clair said during his speech. “… Women are the ones who are most capable of making appropriate medical decisions for themselves and their families.”
Like Luna, St. Clair stressed that the people most impacted by the Supreme Court’s decision and Idaho’s trigger law will be poor women who will “continue to need our unwavering support.”
“I am a grandfather of four beautiful young women and the father of a beautiful daughter,” St. Clair said. “They deserve to make their own decisions regarding their bodies and I will continue advocating for their right to do so.”
‘My uterus, my choice’
Cherie Buckner-Webb Park was filled with people holding signs, many clad in bright pink Planned Parenthood T-shirts. Signs read “Hands off my body,” “This is not a free country,” and “My uterus, my choice.”
Megan Ewins, a Boise mother, is pregnant. She attended the protest with a message, too. Her shirt was rolled up over her pregnant belly, where she had written, “This shouldn’t be forced.”
Ewins, 32, is having a boy and already has a son. She said having a girl would be difficult given the Supreme Court decision.
“Just knowing that she would have more rights inside than out, that is just wrong,” Ewins said.
Saturday’s protest followed a Friday evening protest organized by Idaho’s Party for Socialism and Liberation, the Southwest Idaho Industrial Workers of the World, the Idaho chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and the Red Republicans. The event began at Boise City Hall. Protesters marched downtown and ended up on the Idaho Capitol steps.
Katie Lotz protested Friday, saying, “Obviously, it’s a very sad day.”
“(I am) definitely feeling very frightened for the future,” Lotz told the Statesman.
There was a small group of counterprotesters Friday and Saturday. During one speech on Saturday, a counterprotester interrupted and was removed from the park.
Despite the strong emotions against the Supreme Court decision at the protests, Luna ended her speech on a positive note.
“I can say that the hope that I do have is that people like you have showed up here today,” Luna said, also encouraging people to vote in local and national elections.
Reporter Alex Brizee contributed.
This story was originally published June 26, 2022 at 4:00 AM.
