County residents protest the Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Within hours of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that protected the right to have an abortion in America, thousands of protesters across the country took to the streets on Friday, June 24.

Roxane Pizarro, 27, was studying for her bar exam and says she couldn’t focus. Instead, she did a quick Google search for protests and went to Window on the Bay in Monterey. There, she joined some 200 people in a protest organized by Women’s March Monterey Bay. People of all ages carried signs and chanted “abort the court” and “my body, my choice.”

Pizarro says politics shouldn’t permeate the court. “It is not a reflection of the American people and I think that it’s very scary,” she says. “They’ve completely changed the way we measure fundamental rights.”

Pizarro joined protesters including Carla Mullanex-Ackerman, who drove over an hour from King City to participate. She has daughters and granddaughters. “We worked too hard fighting for many generations to further women’s rights,” she says, speaking emotionally, almost in tears. “And we just took three steps back.”

Karen Araujo, who attended LULAC’s protest in Salinas on Monday, June 27, says the ruling dehumanizes women. “It says your life – as a female human being – is optional. Your hopes, your dreams, your plans for your future, are not as important as a potential human being that is growing within your body.” Araujo is offering to help out-of-state patients seeking abortion care in Monterey County. She now has a spreadsheet listing people who can provide rides, food and housing.

It’s up to states now to regulate abortion. The Supreme Court ruling will change the reproductive health landscape, leading to a wave of abortion bans or heavier restrictions in half of the states, including Texas, Arizona and Ohio. Florida, Indiana, Montana and Nebraska may also ban abortions.

States where abortion is still legal are preparing for the surge of abortion procedures. California, Washington and Oregon started a multi-state coalition to provide protection and services for people who travel to get abortion care. On June 24, Gov. Gavin Newson signed Assembly Bill 1666 into law, which will protect people seeking, helping or providing abortion care in California from out-of-state liability. In November, Californians will vote on a constitutional amendment that would add the right to abortion and birth control to the state Constitution.