Northern Shenandoah Valley Unites rallies in Front Royal against Roe v. Wade abortion rights repeal

Under a new name, former members of Front Royal Unites and others rallied at the Warren County Courthouse grounds Saturday evening, June 25, to protest five Americans comprising a one-vote majority, including the trio of Trump-appointed U.S. Supreme Court justices, 5-4 vote to repeal the right to legal abortions nationwide. The decision, argued by many to be the first time the nation’s highest court has ever voted to reverse a right a previous court had given to American citizens, throws a decision on the legality of abortions and the terms of that legality to the state level.

That is considered bad news for women living in states with conservative legislative majorities, approximately half the nation’s states. And it is especially bad news for women on the lower end of the economic spectrum in those conservative states not in a financial position to take time off and travel to another state where abortions are legal.

In alerting media to the local “Bans off Our Bodies” rally, Northern Shenandoah Valley Unites spokesperson Laura Lee Cascada wrote: “Join Northern Shenandoah Valley Unites (NSVU) in Front Royal at the Warren County Courthouse (1 E Main St) to unite the valley – our community – against this assault on our rights.

“As the court overturned Roe v. Wade, Justice Thomas issued a concurring opinion threatening marriage equality and reliable access to contraception next,” Cascada continued, adding, “These are clear and blatant attempts to control the bodies of people with uteruses … We won’t allow safe access to medical procedures to be taken from our community here in Virginia, which would disproportionately impact those who cannot afford to travel for care elsewhere. Join us in a peaceful rally to say: We Won’t Go Back!”

Cascada also noted an implicit threat to the “BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities” in Justice Thomas’s opinion regarding marriage equality rights.

Voting to overturn Roe v Wade were Justices Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Clarence Thomas, and the Trump-appointed trio of Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. Voting to uphold legal abortions nationally were the three Democratic appointees: Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, who were joined by Republican-appointed Chief Justice John Roberts. However, Roberts joined the conservative majority in a previous 6-3 vote in support of a Mississippi ruling, Dobbs vs. Jackson, limiting abortion access, which set the stage for his conservative colleagues removal of federal protection of the right to abortions nationwide.

It might be noted that the first of the above trio of Trump-appointed justices was made after Republicans in Congress blocked President Obama from nominating a replacement justice in the final year of his two-term presidency following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

As some have observed, the court ruling does not make abortion illegal nationally. Rather, as noted above, it throws a decision on its legality to state legislatures.

Have you read the SCOTUS Dobbs v Jackson opinion? Click here. Take a look starting on page 79 and read Appendix A and B which contains statutes criminalizing abortion at all stages of pregnancy in the States and Territories. Take time to peruse the document and read the opinions of each Supreme Court Judge before you form your own opinion. Be informed.

Watch the rally in the exclusive Royal Examiner video.