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‘My choice to make’: Roe ruling brings sense of deja vu for some Glenwood Springs residents

Roaring Fork Valley community members take part in a standing protest for women's rights after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, ending the constitutional right to abortion, at Sayre Park on Wednesday evening.
Chelsea Self/Post Independent

Women lined Grand Avenue in Glenwood Springs on Wednesday with colorful pro-choice signs, hoping to catch the eye of commuters heading home. 

On Wednesday during rush hour, women of all ages, along with a handful of men, lined the Sayre Park side of Grand to protest the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24.

Signs varied from saying, “If men could get pregnant, abortion would be safe” and “I need to talk about the elephant in the womb.”



“I did this back in the ’60s and ’70s. I can’t believe I’m doing this again,” Glenwood resident Kate Bradley said.

Ross Corwin attended with his daughter Sara Corwin, carrying signs that said, “My body my choice” and “Ban SCOTUS.”



“The fact that I’m about to turn 15 and I’m already getting rights taken away,” Sara said. “I’m a Black woman, so I have a disadvantage already in America, and now I have a disadvantage as a woman in America. I want young women and trans and nonbinary people to all be able to have control over their own body.”

A pro-choice protester talks with a believer of pro-life during a standing protest for women’s rights after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, ending the constitutional right to abortion, at Sayre Park on Wednesday evening.
Chelsea Self/Post Independent

On the other side of the street were nine protesters including Hannah Pfaff, a young woman who had an unplanned pregnancy and was supported by the pregnancy resource center in Glenwood Springs.

“I am here today because I believe in the sanctity of life,” Pfaff said. “I hope I can change one mind of someone driving by today. I hope that the messages that they’re seeing on this side can really hit home with someone.”

Pfaff wanted people to know she is willing to love and support them the way she was loved and supported when she was pregnant. 

At one point, 13-year-old pro-choice protester Keeley Riley crossed the busy main road to hold a sign next to one of the protesters that said, ‘Ignore this sign’ with an arrow pointing to the sign next to her.

“I talked to the woman (Pfaff), and I was surprised that she was really nice,” Riley said. “I wanted to talk to her because I do have interest in what people like her have to say.”

Pfaff said she wanted to show Riley that the counter protesters were not mean people. 

Riley went to a protest in Bend, Oregon, and she said the people there were much meaner, with people telling her to kill herself. 

She said she wanted to inform people and encourage them to vote. She was also curious about what people on the other side of the road had to say. 

Riley came with two friends, Suzannah Garcelon and Ruby Hood. All of the girls were supported by their mothers and fellow protesters, although some passing motorists responded to their message with hostility, they said.

Yet they said the vast majority of drivers were in favor, showing their support with honks, thumbs up and engine revs. 

Roaring Fork Valley community members take part in a standing protest for women’s rights after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, ending the constitutional right to abortion, at Sayre Park on Wednesday evening.
Chelsea Self/Post Independent

Back on the pro-chioce side of the street were two of the organizers of the protest, Katrina McAlpine and Tammy Reynolds. 

“I am very thankful to live in Colorado where (Gov. Jared) Polis has provided bills that help give people contraceptives if they need it for free,” McAlpine said. 

Pfaff also mentioned the ability and accessibility to obtain free contraceptives in Colorado, while fellow organizer Tammy Reynolds said she fears that contraceptives could be the next thing to be taken from women since it has already been proposed in some states.

McAlpine, like Pfaff, is also a younger mother with a 3-year-old daughter. She and the other supporters hope to bring awareness and to encourage voting for themselves, their community and people like her daughter.

“I was living in poverty and I had to make that difficult choice,” McAlpine said. “That was my choice to make, nobody else’s.”


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