Watsonville Students Witness Historic Protest In Washington D.C.

WATSONVILLE, CA — Students from Mount Madonna School found themselves in the center of a historic moment Tuesday surrounding the potential overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Today, while on their Values in American Thought learning journey to Washington, D.C., eleventh and twelfth-grade students passed by the Supreme Court and witnessed a historic moment, which was captured in photographs by the New York Times and CNN," said Leigh Ann Clifton, director of Marketing and Communications for the school.

"Several of the students were overcome with emotions in witnessing the protestors' strong reactions including senior Grace Timan, who was photographed by Sarabeth Maney for The New York Times," Clifton said.

Grace Timan said the experience was like nothing she'd ever experienced.

"I have been involved in protests in the past, I planned a Black Lives Matter Protest in June 2020, but the difference between protesting in Santa Cruz and DC was so stark," she said.

Timan described the scene as deeply emotional, as it could have an impact on her and her teenage peers.

"I saw my best friend start crying and I broke down right away," she said. "The precedent that overturning Roe vs. Wade sets has the potential to take away more than our rights to abortion, but birth control, and gay marriage, it feels like we are moving backward. These are my rights, this is my body, and while protesting I felt pure desperation."

Cecily Kelly, a junior at Mount Madonna, noted the number of people at the protest.

"Even in this moment of division, I felt united with the women and men who were protesting around me," Kelly said. "We were united in this feat, it did not matter that we had never met, we were on the same side, and we were protecting each other. Although I will never see these people again, I will remember the powerful moments spent with them protesting for women’s right to choice."

Local leaders shared their reactions to the leaked draft Tuesday. U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) said on Twitter that the reversal of women's reproductive rights that have stood for nearly a half-century "makes it clear that we must act now" to protect women's reproductive rights.