Hecklers or no hecklers, drivers trying to be intimidating or honking in support, new protesters not sure what to do, and others immediately emboldened to speak up, regulars with the same signs or revolving ones, Evann, Cecilia and Kaydi, three twentysomethings who have been organizing nightly protests at the Federal Courthouse building in downtown Reno, have experienced a wide range of experiences and emotions since Roe v Wade was overturned.
“We need to be a presence every single day,” Cecilia explained of their nightly 7 p.m. protest tactic. “We need to be out there showing people we're not going anywhere. This is a problem. This needs to be addressed. This is an issue. And if we're not out there every single day, looking these people in the eye and reminding them that something is wrong, they forget the fact that just because Nevada is protected for now does not mean that we always will be. It does not mean that everybody else is. I want people to finally show some empathy for other people, be a human being for once, band with fellow human beings. Stand together on this. This is our freedom. This is not about abortion. This is about freedom. This is about human rights. This is about your children's future and you are failing us. You are failing your children.”
All three have been ramping up their social media presence, activity and output to make more people aware. They also spend hours online responding to comments, educating others and inspiring more people to join them.
“Even if there's only three of us or two of us, you know, people drive by and they see that we're there, that we care and that we're real,” Evann said of her dual role of posting pictures on Instagram and also going to as many of the nightly protests as she can. “And that they'll remember that next time and hopefully they remember next time when they vote or when they decide to make a decision that affects not only them, but women and LGBTQ+ people and people of color and immigrants, everyone in this country.”
A new Facebook group the trio just started after a request from older would be protesters.
In Person and Online
Dealing with toxic people online and in real life does not faze her. “Honestly, it kind of just fuels my fire more,” Evann said. “The more I get yelled at, the more people flip me off and tell me that I'm stupid or I don't know what I'm talking about or that I shouldn't have this freedom, you know, it just, it makes me more mad and it gives me more fuel to keep pushing, to keep fighting this fight because that means that nothing's going to change. I need to physically be a part of it. And that just motivates me way more in order to keep pushing, keep fighting because I'm angry. And I know a lot of young people are angry and they don't know what to do with that anger. And I think we need to start pushing it out.”
Kaydi says she’s relieved Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak declared the state a so-called “sanctuary state.”
In a tweet sent out June 28th, the governor wrote: “Today, I signed an Executive Order to strengthen protections for reproductive freedom in Nevada. Reproductive health care is a basic human right -- We are committed to ensuring safe access to abortions for women seeking refuge from the restrictive laws in their state.”
“That was absolutely amazing,” Kaydi said. “I feel like it's super important to remind people that that's very much temporary, depending on what happens in November. And so we need to keep going out there telling people who to support and also reminding people that there's going to be an influx of people coming from out of state into Nevada because we are a sanctuary state and we do have abortion protections. And so we need to keep this awareness up so that we make sure that the state and every municipality in the state makes reproductive health a priority so that both people in the state and out of the state can get care because there are a very limited amount of resources available for reproductive health, such as abortion clinics, contraception …”
Finding Time after Work
All three work, and still find time for their now nightly ritual.
Evann, the youngest of the group at 20, is a receptionist for a dermatologist. Kaydi, soon to be 23, is a general warehouse worker, with studies in political science in her background and a paralegal certificate.
“I wouldn't miss a night for the world even though, yeah, I am somebody who works 10 hours basically every single day of the week, but this is so important to me,” Kaydi said.
Cecilia, 27, works for a biomedical research facility, which has been involved in vaccine rollouts. “I would like to note that I absolutely do not believe that people should be forced to take a vaccine,” she said. “We have been compared a lot to people who force people to take vaccines. Again, it is your body, it is your choice. That is what we are chanting. So I do not believe in forcing anybody to do anything that they do not want to do.”
Cecilia takes the responsibility of being the oldest in the organizing group seriously. “I kind of mom everybody, make sure everybody gets home safe. The most amazing thing about coming out here is watching the people who come out for their very first time, their very first protest and they're shy and they're scared and they don't know what to do and they're nervous about it. And we welcome them and we open our arms to them and we give them that megaphone and we tell them to scream about it and let it out and to watch them open up and let these emotions out and feel … like they're humans and like they're being listened to is the most amazing part of what we do.”
She says people keep asking the group why they protest while abortions are still legal in Nevada. “Just because it's legal here doesn't mean it will stay legal here,” she reiterated. “And just because it's legal here does not mean people in other states are safe. People in other states are dying because of this.”
Encouraging Voting and Donations
Cecilia says based on her own experience many men think being on contraceptives is a cakewalk. “If I had a dollar for every time a man drove by and told me why not just use the pill, I'd be rich. It's not that easy,” she explained. “There are lots of different complications that can come with the different birth controls that women have to take. And it's something that men don't know because they don't have to deal with it. They don't have to deal with getting cancer. They don't have to deal with an IUD ripping through their uterus. They don't have to deal with infertility because of this stuff… It should be everybody's responsibility to preventing pregnancy. It should not fall on the woman.”
Cecilia is dismayed that in some states abortion isn’t allowed for medical exemptions anymore.
“That would be ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages, and other types of pregnancies which actually risk the life of the mother. That’s the thing with pro-life is they seem to forget the life of the person carrying the baby, who is also at risk. Every time we are trying to carry a child, they seem to forget that pregnancy is dangerous, that women have died. So many women have died just going through the process of being pregnant, giving birth, having a child, let alone the women that are murdered because their boyfriends didn't want them to get pregnant.”
Preventing abortions in the case of rape and incest also leaves her gasping for air. “They want to force us to have the rapist’s baby? In what country does that sound right to people? In what country does it sound okay to force children who have been raped to have a child?”
The three pointed out their support for all the work Planned Parenthood has been doing nationally and locally as well as the efforts of the Wild West Access Fund (WWAF) of Nevada giving financial assistance to those seeking abortion care in the state, coming from within as well as from outside.
The group encourage donations to these organizations, and registering to vote in November. In the meantime, they are asking more people to join them 7 p.m. every night at the courthouse between downtown and Midtown.
“I am so proud of all of these kids that come out here every night and I hope that they're all listening and I hope every single one of you knows. I don't care if you are out there for one day 30 minutes, three hours every single day. I am so proud of you. And I love you,” Cecilia said in closing.