Government & Elections News

The year 2023 could have been a moment to celebrate the half century of reproductive choice afforded by Roe v Wade. Instead, post-Roe, women are resisting further attacks. On January 21, San Francisco turned out to counter-protest the annual so-called "Walk for Life," when thousands are bussed in to demand a total end to reproductive freedom. On January 22, dozens of Women's Marches were held in cities throughout the country.

CodePink hosted a demonstration and press conference at U.C. Berkeley Law School on January 11, the 21st anniversary of Guantanamo Prison. The demand was for the Biden administration to close Guantanamo, free the 20 men cleared for release yet still detained, and prosecute U.C. law professor John Yoo for complicity in torture. It was John Yoo who provided the legalistic rationale for torture at US prisons throughout the world.

On September 10, more than 400 people gathered in front of the Santa Clara County Government Building in San Jose to stand with members of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. They called on the County to deny permits for a proposed mining project that threatens the tribe’s most sacred site. The proposed sand and gravel mine in the county would significantly damage the sacred Native American site and historic artifacts.

Multiple city vehicles were set on fire and destroyed at a maintenance yard at Harvey West Park in Santa Cruz on June 2. Graffiti left at the scene read, "Leave Homeless Alone!!" and "Stop Sweeping!" City officials have estimated the damage to be approximately $300,000. The vehicles were destroyed in advance of the impending mass eviction at the San Lorenzo Park Benchlands homeless encampment, which the City of Santa Cruz had announced would begin in July.

Protesters spilled into the streets on June 24 soon after the much anticipated Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization was announced. In San Francisco, protesters gathered en masse in front of the Phillip Burton Federal Building for a rally that morphed into a march with a sit in at Market and 8th streets. An estimated 3,000 people converged on the intersection while thousands others protested in other parts of the city.

In a rare breach of US Supreme Court secrecy, a draft majority opinion written by justice Samuel Alito has been leaked. The would-be ruling makes a case for completely overturning Roe v. Wade, allowing states to outlaw all abortions without exceptions for rape and incest. Women in half of the states will lose access to safe and legal reproductive services. Protests immediately broke out across the country and are ongoing. Read more for updates.

The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion. Advocates for reproductive justice showed up on the forty-ninth anniversary of the decision to reignite the movement to control their bodies. Activists provided a counter-presence to the annual anti-abortion “Walk for Life” in San Francisco. Reproductive justice supporters rallied at the Federal Building/U.S. Courthouse, then marched to where Walk for Life was holding their opening event.

On January 6, cities and towns throughout the Bay Area and across the country held remembrance vigils and protest rallies on the one-year anniversary of the attack on the US Capitol building. Demonstrators identified former President Trump and the Republican Party as responsible for assaulting democracy in an attempt to reverse the outcome of a free and fair election. Many observers view the country as never having been so divided since the civil war and fear a recurrence.

As the US Supreme Court stood poised on December 1 to uphold a Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, demonstrators across the US took to the streets. A new organization on the reproductive justice movement scene, Strike for Choice, said the date, which coincided with World AIDS Day, "is fitting because we owe so much to the Act Up movement that moved the needle on the government’s attitude towards powerless AIDS patients."

International Human Rights Day was marked on December 10 by a diverse protest at San Francisco's Federal Building, calling out worldwide crimes against humanity. Countries and policies targeted were the US-supported Saudi war in Yemen, fascists in Myanmar, Israeli colonization of Palestine, attacks against the free press, police brutality, and the US Supreme Court's attack on women. Protesters later marched to a second rally at Powell and Market Streets.

On October 30, a Day of the Dead rally was held in front of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's house in San Francisco. It was at the end of a funeral procession from Alta Plaza Park. A mock coffin with "68000" painted on it was carried to remember the number of people who died this year because of a lack of medical care. The Speaker's house has been a frequent target of demonstration. She has been viewed as a captive of corporate lobbying, unwilling to enact real healthcare reform.

On September 1, Texas’ anti-abortion law banning the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy went into effect, despite the 1973 Supreme Court ruling which established a constitutional right to this form of healthcare. Reproductive justice advocates in the San Francisco Bay Area and across the country held major protests on October 2 and October 3, with the fate of Roe v. Wade and legal abortion on the line. Indybay has coverage from a dozen cities.