With raised hands and handwritten signs, protesters began their chants outside the Denver Capitol around 5:30 p.m., starting to march close to 6 p.m.

Protesters and speakers called the Supreme Court’s decision a “declared war on women,” chanting “We will fight back!”

A common theme among protests was the unfairness of the court system, which many called undemocratic. Signs and chants pointed out that the sitting Supreme Court was not chosen by the people and did not make a decision that reflected the will of the people.

“Bans don’t prevent abortions, they prevent safe abortions.” The commonly used argument against abortion bans was ever-present during the protest, with some protesters carrying reminders of what consequences unsafe, illegal abortions can have. One protester carried clotheshangers, a tool sometimes used to perform backalley abortions, with tags the read out some of the potential risks of illegal abortions: “sepsis,” “jail time.”

The decision to overturn Roe came in the middle of Pride Month. The two issues of abortion and LGBTQ+ rights are intertwined, as precedent from Roe played a role in deciding 2015’s Obergefell v. Hodges, which guaranteed the right to same-sex marriage. Some pointed out the connection between the issues by carrying pride flags or signs.

Many call adoption an alternative to abortion, as it can offer pregnant people an alternative to aborting a fetus without being forced to eventually raise it. But others point out that adoption is an imperfect solution, with a flawed private adoption and foster care system in place, such as this adoptee in Denver.

Younger girls joined the rallies, some holding signs that reminded others of the ever-present danger of guns in schools – something most state governments have not made moves to prevent, even as trigger bans on abortion go into effect across 13 states.

Older women joined the crowds. Some pointed to the universal relevance of Roe v. Wade, a case decided during their lifetimes, past just abortion rights.

The raised fist has been a symbol of resistance and unity across almost all demonstrations, and its origins preached that same message. According to National Geographic, strikers against Paterson silk mills in New Jersey were speaking to “Big Bill” Haywood, a founding member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). This organization fought to support striking workers, and demand better working conditions for them. Hayward raised his fist that day when speaking to the strikers, “Every finger by itself has no force,” Hayward said.“Now look,” said Haywood, forming his hand into a fist. “See that, that’s the IWW.”

The idea that the government was working to create a population increase in order to have more people join the working class was an argument made, and reaffirmed, by multiple speakers from the Party for Socialism and Liberation before and during the march.

The phrase “Abortion is Healthcare” has become a centerpiece for the pro-choice argument. Many believe that this statement is true, as in situations of dire need during birth, abortion is the only solution other than death.

The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) organized the march and had numerous speakers elaborate on all aspects of the Supreme Court ruling. Preaching to a crowd that grew massively as the evening aged, speeches were met with the noise of assent.

Holding a sign reading “Abortion is Healthcare. #wewillnotgoback,” Neurosurgeon Kara Beasley chanted with others during the start of the protest. “As a physician, I’m appalled. Abortion is not political, it is healthcare. This is not about babies, this is about women, and their right to choose their healthcare for their bodies,” Beasley said.

Before the organized march began, the group of protesters split in two, with some moving towards the corner of Lincoln and 14th. They did not advance further, with police redirecting traffic around the demonstrators. This diverting of cars continued throughout the entire march from in front of the capitol building to the courthouse.

The protest overlapped with the 5th game in the Stanley Cup series, with Colorado Avalanche losing to Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 that night.

24-year-old stay-at-home mother Jenna cheered on as cars drove by the protest at Denver’s capital. “Abortion starts with other things like consent, LGBT rights, and birth control. It all falls under the same umbrella. We take one away, everything gets taken away,” Jenna said.

Many protesters compared the harsh regulations on reproduction to the recent anger surrounding gun regulation, which is significantly more lax compared to reproductive rights. Signs read “Your guns are less regulated than my uterus,” and “Why does a gun have more rights than me?”

Protesters followed a truck through the streets of downtown Denver, waving signs that read “Abortion is healthcare,” and “Women’s bodies are more regulated than guns,” as they chanted sentences loud enough to be heard a few blocks away.

A protester held up a sign that read “Girls just wanna have fun-damental human rights,” playing off the 1980’s hit “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper. Small font at the bottom of the sign read “Girls includes everyone, in this case girls refers specifically to anyone with a uterus,” intending to make it clear that the effects of overturning Roe v. Wade affects everyone assigned female at birth.

Chanting was a large part of the energy as the protest moved through the streets. People shouted “Get your rosaries off my ovaries,” and “2, 4, 6, 8, separate the church and state!”

Onlookers watched from apartment balconies and restaurant terraces as the protest came by, many cheering the rally on and recording it on their phones.

A protester waves a rainbow flag over the crowd as they walk. Many protesters also made sure to highlight how the overturning of Roe v. Wade would impact LGBTQ citizens as well.

At the front of the march, two protesters held up a banner from the Party of Socialism & Liberation, who organized the rally, that read “Defend Roe v. Wade. Abortion is a right,” and in larger font “We won’t go back! We will fight back!

A protester held up a sign that read “Keep your laws away from our uteruses!” as they marched towards the front of the protest.

Those who didn’t carry signs showed their solidarity with the movement by partaking in chants and raising their fists as they walked, a recurring symbol from earlier pro-choice rallies and Black Lives Matter protests.

After returning back to the Capitol, a member of the Party of Socialism and Liberation shouted chants into the crowd from a truck. Earlier in the protest, they stopped and delivered a statement to the crowd talking about the country’s capitalist system. “We do not have a justice system, we have a capitalist system,” the speaker said. “This system reinforces the power of a small elite job in the first place.”

Protests outside the pride-flag adorned Capitol came just days before the city’s Pridefest, which will celebrate the LGBTQ+ community in multiple days of marches and parades.

Protesters on Capitol Hill overlook the crowd following its second lap around downtown.