ST. PETERSBURG, Fla — Dozens showed up in St. Petersburg Friday to march and protest the supreme court's decision to overturn roe versus wade.
"It's disheartening but I channel my emotions through activism, that's what I plan on continuing to do," said Cheyenne Cheile.
Chelie is a co-founder of the Women's Advocacy Movement of Pinellas and helped organize the event. She tells ABC Action News that reproductive rights activists in the area are moving the issue forward through education.
"We're trying to educate people about the resources available in the area which includes the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund. They're going to be fighting relentlessly over the next few months as they have been for a very long time, [so] donating to them educating people about them. We also want to educate people about plancpills.org," she said.
And in the midst of those frustrated with the SCOTUS decision ABC Action News also found those who support it.
"So today we celebrate that 50 years of precedent that we didn't agree with was overturned," said Eric McEwan.
McEwan says he's a local pastor who has been sharing his pro-life message for a while. And he says he came out Friday to let people know that there are also those in the community who feel differently about things.
"The pre-born child is in fact a human life and it deserves to be protected just like every human life deserves to be protected," he said.
Leaders and elected officials in our community are also sharing their opinions on the issue. Former Governor Charlie Crist and State Representative Michele Rayner-Goolsby spoke at Friday's event in St. Petersburg.
Both of them expressed disappointment in the supreme court and both encouraged people to vote for progressive leaders who would protect abortion rights in the state of Florida.
"It's a war on women, I don't know how else to put it. I mean they're giving more freedom to guns than they are to women in our country and in the state of Florida," said Crist.
"We knew this day was coming, but to have this moment of finality really of this opinion being released, we all needed to come together and we are in a pivotal moment in our history," said Rayner-Goolsby.
But again, there are also elected leaders who disagree.
Senator Marco Rubio released the following statement Friday:
“Today’s decision by the Supreme Court to allow states to regulate abortion was right constitutionally and morally,” he said, "For nearly half a century, a nation founded on god-given rights denied those rights to its most vulnerable citizens and more than 63 million Americans never got the chance to pursue their dreams. We must not only continue to take steps to protect the unborn, we must also do more to support mothers and their babies. I will soon introduce a bill to ensure we do everything we can to give every child the opportunity to fully access the promise of America,”
