Indivisible Clackamas holds protest in Milwaukie to mark two years since Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision

With the Willamette River on one side and McLoughlin Boulevard on the other, a crowd of protestors gathered at Milwaukie Bay Park on Saturday, June 22, waving signs and hands to the honking cars speeding by.

The protest was organized by Indivisible Clackamas, a local grassroots organization, to mark the second anniversary of the Supreme Court decision — Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — that effectively overturned Roe v. Wade.

“We have seen our ability to make career and family choices and even our medical safety imperiled by the Republican party’s intrusion into our bedroom and doctor offices,” said Elizabeth Luthy, a volunteer and a member of Indivisible Clackamas, in a press release.

Indivisible Clackamas has worked to draw attention to U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s congressional voting record on reproductive rights. A key point for the protestors is that Chavez-DeRemer, who represents Oregon’s 5th Congressional District, received a 100% rating from National Right to Life — a national organization advocating against abortion access.

“Birth control is a man’s issue also and Republicans recently voted against our freedom to make our own reproductive choices,” said Gene Fifield, another protestor from Indivisible Clackamas, in the release.

Chavez-DeRemer released a statement through her D.C. office regarding the Dobbs decision anniversary on Monday, June 24.

“The Supreme Court’s decision took power away from unelected judges and put it in the hands of the people through their elected state legislators. Over the years, Oregonians have repeatedly made it clear that they want reproductive health rights protected. That’s why I’ve pledged to oppose federal policies that would fundamentally change reproductive health care access for women in Oregon,” said Chavez-DeRemer, in the statement. “I haven’t hesitated to stand up to members of my own party on these issues – even killing a bill last year that would have restricted access to mifepristone nationwide.”

The protestors in Milwaukie were not alone.

Grassroots organizers staged protests on the Supreme Court decision’s anniversary across Oregon — from Ashland to Bend to The Dalles.

For the protestors at Milwaukie Bay Park, it seemed their minds were made up about the future of Oregon’s 5th Congressional District: Chavez-DeRemer needs to go.

Signs that said as much leaned against a streetlamp at the end of the protest, with messages such as, “MY BODY, MY CHOICE,” “RESTORE ROE” and “GET THE ELEPHANT OUT OF THE WOMB” written in bold letters.

Chavez-DeRemer is up for reelection for the first time since she was elected in 2022. In May, she was nominated as the Republican candidate for the congressional seat, while Clackamas County Democrats nominated Oregon State Rep. Janelle Bynum, D-Happy Valley, as their nominee.