ESCONDIDO, Calif. — Demonstrations are happening all across California and the country this weekend following the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning abortion.
In Escondido, dozens of people took to the streets Saturday to protest the historic decision.
“We’re all super lucky that we get to live in a blue state where we don’t necessarily have to worry about it as much as other people, so we’re here to use our voices for those who don’t have a choice and whose future are at risk,” said Bella Leath.
“I think this is only the beginning and its insane to me that we just keep going back and back and back… and it’s like, seriously, how much farther can we go?,” added Kaitlyn Hand.
The San Diego Party for Socialism and Liberation organized the rally and members say the time for change is now.
“It’s really unacceptable that unelected people are allowed to make this decision for millions and millions of women. Half of all the birthing-age women in the U.S. are going to lose access to abortion cause of this decision, so we’re out here to say this is undemocratic,” said Anzy Mcwha, organizer for the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
Many want to know what’s next after the court’s decision, but that will be determined by the each state.
“What will happen now is we’re going to actually see in practice how these states are going interpret their own state legislation and then act accordingly and so to your question about ‘who might be subject to criminal liability,’ it depends on the state and their domestic legislation,” said William Aceves, Professor of law at California Western School of Law.
Aceves says that won’t come without challenges.
“The challenge of course, is going to be how much power do states have to regulate of women in their jurisdictions to leave those states to seek reproductive healthcare assistance in other jurisdictions, in other states. And that’s probably going to be one of the future battlegrounds for litigation,” added Aceves.
But Aceves says it is possible for the court to look into other rights. This comes after Justice Clarence Thomas said the court should reconsider future cases, including same sex marriage, contraception rights, and even the right to parents to control the upbringing of their children.
“All of those rights, at least under justice Thomas’s approach or perspective, would no longer be subject to heightened constitutional protection,” said Aceves.
Aceves says even if the court were to reconsider future cases, it would take years before that happens.
“Any decision that would impact these other fundamental rights would take some time their way through the legal process. And so we would have an ample notice before those cases were ever presented to the court and we would have an opportunity to respond during the litigation process,” added Aceves.
WATCH: What's next after historic Roe V. Wade ruling? (June 2022).