The sound of the simple chant fills the square: “Pro Roe!”

Cars blast their horns in solidarity as they drive past, spurned on by the protesters lining the sidewalk. 

The crowd gathered there is diverse. Hundreds of people, old and young alike, all united in their cause of protest and solidarity for women’s rights. They carry signs like “A Woman’s Right to Choose Matters,” “Texas: where a virus has reproductive rights but a woman doesn’t!” and “I will not silently go back to the 1950s.” Some wear pink, others red, and a choice few wrap themselves in the color of their pride. 

As the afternoon goes on, the hot weather slowly dwindles the crowd but the feeling is no less electric. 

This was the crowd for the Santa Rosa Women’s Rally that happened on Saturday morning. The event was hosted by the Sonoma County Democratic Party. 

 It was one of over 600 similar events all taking place all across the country in protest of the Texas’s SB 8, which is currently the most restrictive legislation about abortion in the country. 

SB 8 went into effect Sept. 1, and is the first abortion ban to have a private cause of action which allows private citizens to sue an abortion provider and, notably, anyone who helps a patient access that procedure.

The law has already been challenged by Dr. Alan Braid, a San Antonio obstetrician and gynecologist who has confessed to providing abortions after the ban was enacted in a editorial published in The Washington Post. So far no one from the state of Texas has sued him, but he has been sued by an Arkansas man as well as a man from Illinois. 

Sara Feinman, a fourth-year student who attended the rally, talked about the importance of attending such events, even in a state where abortion is a legal right. 

“I find that participating in social movements that I have the privilege to attend physically is where my biggest impact lies. There is power in numbers and … there is something special in cultivating a feeling of community. At the end of the day, we empower each other,” Feinman said.

The rally as a whole had a focus on intersectionality, which was reflected in speakers like Nicole Lim the Executive Director of the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center and Nick Lawrence, a trans man and author of the children’s book I Am a Boy!!

Most speakers also stressed the importance of voting and voter’s rights. The Facebook group for the event stressed that “if you can’t vote, you don’t have a voice.”

The moment from the rally that epitomized the cause the most was not one of the speakers. A little girl got lost and a speech was disrupted to make the announcement. The child was found during the announcement, and was returned to her family. Pat Sabo, head of the Sonoma County Democratic Party and emcee of the rally, exclaimed afterwards that there was no better or safer crowd, for that girl to get lost in. 

 “The heart of the Women’s March is to advocate for a cause bigger than just us and I think this is all pretty magical,” Feinman said.