Health, Housing, & Public Services 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.

Born and raised in San Francisco, Tony Coleman led campaigns to get a killer SFPD cop fired and to resist Prop 21. Tony later made his mark in West Oakland supporting arts and community. Tony was a key organizer in the Justice for Oscar Grant Movement and founded One Fam and Bikes 4 Life. Tony passed away on September 23 after battling cancer. Hear him in his own words in video and audio in a collection of posts on Indybay.

An abortion rights protester was removed from a Golden State Warriors championship game for attempting to display a banner that read, "Overturn Roe? Hell No." Kareim McKnight was strapped to a gurney and handcuffed, then injected with a drug called Versed by an EMT with the SFFD. In response, she has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city and county of San Francisco for violating her Fourth Amendment right to control her own body.

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.

Outrage swelled after two of the latest mass casualty shootings, one at a grocery store in Buffalo, NY, and another at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Ten were killed in Buffalo, mostly African American elders, and twenty-one in Uvalde, nineteen small children and two teachers. Both shooters were only 18 years old when they bought the assault-style weapons used in the attacks. On June 11, Bay Area cities will protest on a national day of action against gun violence.

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.

Protesters disrupted mass at St. Mary's on February 27 in costumes recreating those worn in the dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale. A tiny group of anti-abortion activists challenged the disrupters, but were overwhelmed by pro-choice demonstrators. The St. Mary's protest was part of a buildup of activity in advance of mass protests to be held on March 8 International Women’s Day nationwide. In the Bay Area, an abortion rights demo will be held at UC Berkeley.

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.

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."