Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett gave a talk at Santa Fe’s Lensic Performing Arts Center Sunday. Her arrival was met with sharp opposition from locals, who protested on San Francisco Street just outside the theatre.
Dozens of people stood in the street and on sidewalks. They carried megaphones, drums, and signs.
Many took issue with Barrett’s vote against the right to an abortion in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. That case overturned Roe v. Wade and has led to multiple states banning abortion.
“My concerns are, primarily, the ruling that our Supreme Court Justice gave against women’s reproductive rights," said state representative Tara Lujan (D-Santa Fe). "I think that's one of the most devastating things. I never thought in my lifetime, as a woman who's been advocating and working for those rights and as a state representative who's been fighting and voting for our rights, that this would happen at the Supreme Court. But lo and behold it did."
But some people were angry not just at Barrett, but at the institutions that had given her so much power. At one point, protesters burned an American flag in the street.
Other protesters proudly carried American flags, like Tanya Stickford.
“We need to reclaim it," Stickford argued. "The American flag has been burrito-rolling a lot of [expletive] for a long time. And I want to bring it out. This is the America we stand for. It's not the America that's happening right now with our administration. So I'm reclaiming the flag. I've never carried a flag in my life till now."
Stickford acknowledged everyone’s right to speak, but said she was still displeased with the Lensic for agreeing to host Barrett.
“Fascism doesn’t happen externally," she said. "It happens 'cause people participate and they [the Lensic] are participating. I'm also disappointed in St. John’s. People hiding behind intellectual pursuit and imagining themselves to be in some sort of intellectually rigorous dialogue—you don’t debate fascism."
But Rep. Lujan said she welcomed the political dialogue, maintaining that, "we have to listen to all sides of the story. It doesn't mean we have to agree with them. And obviously we don't."
Protesters gathered near the Lensic at around 3 PM and began to disperse around five. But several people told me they’ll keep fighting not just for women’s reproductive rights, but for the survival of American democracy.
