Members and supporters of the Town of Newburgh Democratic Committee gathered and rallied last week in opposition to the leaked written draft opinion by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito that would overturn Roe v. Wade.

Supporters gathered in front of the City of Newburgh Courthouse at 5:30 on Tuesday, May 3 with other officials in attendance that included State Senator James Skoufis, City of Newburgh Councilwoman Giselle Martinez and Ramona Monteverde, Councilman Bob Sklarz, New York State Assembly candidate Chris Eachus and Orange County Legislator Kevindaryán Luján.

The leaked 98 page draft opinion was acquired and published in an article on May 2 by POLITICO that discusses the overturning of the ruling of Roe v. Wade but further indicates that five Supreme Court justices would vote in favor to overturn the ruling. An overrule of Roe v. Wade would leave the decisions on abortion policy to state governments.

Sandy Walklet arrived at the courthouse that afternoon and stood with a sign that read “We Will Not Go Back, Protect Women’s Rights”. “I don’t want to live in a country where they take rights away from people,” said Walklet. “We’re supposed to live in a country where people’s rights are expanded. It’s like taking us backwards 50 years.”

On the corner of Route 9W and Broadway stood Candace Lanza and her mother Wendy Savastano with signs as drivers went past and periodically honked their horns.

“I just hope that the, the [Supreme] court realizes that what they’re doing is wrong and that they need to protect women and their rights,” said Lanza. “I have three young granddaughters and another grandchild on the way and frankly, I remember before Roe v. Wade passed and I am terrified for this generation that’s coming up,” said Savastano.

Shannon Wong, who was in attendance at the rally with her daughter, shared her thoughts on the leak. “We knew this was coming. This is literally the biggest rollback of people’s rights in this country in decades,” said Wong. “The court’s should not be rolling back rights on people, they should be expanding the rights of people.”

The Roe v. Wade court case dates back to the year 1973 where a seven to two vote in the Supreme Court affirmed the legal rights of a woman, under the 14th Amendment, to have an abortion. Multiple news agencies reported the draft was authenticated and investigations are on-going into the court breach. Various groups across the state and county have gathered and rallied but no immediate decisions have been made at this time by the Supreme Court.