Students, some chanting “abortion,”  walked out of school on May 12th to protest the leaked Supreme Court position on abortion rights. A group met in the  East Quad and marched out of school. Staff gathered at the entrance of the main building to discourage students from leaving, but were told to let them exit. 

“I was in front of everybody, but nobody wanted to open the doors so I went through the principal and administrators and opened the doors for everyone,” one freshman said.

Around 80-90 students flooded through the doors. Posters could be seen being handed out saying “Abortion on demand & without apology.” The students received support from passing cars honking.

Two administrators were soon called out outside and could be seen recording the crowd.

“I think it was a good cause, and great that students supported it, but I don’t think it will do much,” junior Andrea Cisneros said. “If awareness was their goal, then I think they did a good job by participating.”

While some students took this protest seriously, it seemed that some walked out just to ditch. “Dude, everyone’s walking out, let’s just go,” one of the students walking out of their class yelled in excitement to their friend. Some just took the opportunity to leave school but not participate in the protest.

“I’ll say one thing. The people who are above 17 should have signed a petition instead of going to a walk out cause they should know that it’s childish, and younger people should have waited ‘till after school instead of causing ruckus,” senior Osvaldo Rivas said.

“I stayed in class and continued my education,” senior Rachel Romero said.  “I asked my government teacher about the walkout and he told me that we did not learn from the past and this could have been executed differently.” 

According to Rise4abortionright, members joined multiple schools to help lead the protest. They passed out stickers, bandanas, and posters.  Multiple students from different schools all met up at one point. Students and others who participated in this local protest walked to Salt Lake Park and discussed the protest. 

“The walkout yesterday was an experience I do not regret participating in,” junior Sammantha Gonzalez said. “When we walked out there were protesters already with posters, flags and water for the students to use. We began to chant and I felt as if we young women and men came together to fight for our rights and what we believe in.”