NESPA Winner: News story, 2023

The Cypress, Brookline High School, Brookline, MA

In response to Politico leaking the Supreme Court’s initial majority opinion draft to overturn Roe v. Wade on Monday, May 2, students organized a walkout demanding control over the decision to have an abortion. Hundreds of students gathered outside of the STEM wing at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 13 during C-block.

The walkout, orchestrated by the HerStory Club, was one of many protests across the state and nation led by students on May 13. Even more protestors joined “Bans Off Our Bodies” protests on Saturday, May 14, organized by Planned Parenthood in many different cities, including Boston, to fight for the legality of abortion.

Written by conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, the draft opinion determined that the issue of abortion should be returned to individual states. In striking down the nearly 50-year-old Roe v. Wade decision, the Supreme Court would remove the federal right to an abortion. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 26 states are very likely to ban abortion if Roe is overturned, including 18 that are certain to do so.

Freshman and member of the Girl Up club Jolie Revis spoke to the crowd about her frustration with the removal of personal autonomy.

Read the full story here.