South Florida Protests Held Over Reported US Supreme Court Abortion Opinion

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Emotions were running high on Tuesday afternoon: Anger, frustration, and shock, as dozens of people protested the possibility of losing abortion rights.

Women CBS4 talked to said if Roe V. Wade is overturned, it will be like taking a step back in time.

"I'm just shocked and appalled," said Christina del Valle, who supports abortion rights.

Protestors said they never imagined such a fundamental right for women would be up for discussion nearly 50 years after it went into place.

"When this government of the few, the angry, the wealthiest are trying take over our role as women and trying to take our power away from us, starting with something so personal, like what we do with our bodies - it's atrocious, unacceptable and we have to fight back," says Taima Hervas, who supports abortion rights.

The majority of women at the Freedom Tower protest, supporting abortion rights, but one woman was pleased with the leaked ruling.

"The fact that they're defining the right narrowly and insisting it doesn't exist unless it's deeply rooted in our nation's history and tradition is going to severely cut back on many of our fundamental rights," said Amanda Guerra, who is against abortion rights.

If Roe V. Wade is overturned, it'll give each state the option to make abortions illegal.

"It's important to understand this won't automatically make abortion illegal everywhere, it simply removes protection for abortion," said Caroline Mala Corbin, a professor of law at the University of Miami.

Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed one of the toughest abortion laws in the country, banning the procedure after just 15 weeks. That law goes into effect July 1st.

"The question is whether Florida will stop there or whether it will go all the way and ban abortion entirely," says Corbin.

Corbin, a professor of law at the University of Miami, said the Supreme Court has formulated a new way to test whether a right is protected.

"Its test is, is the right deeply rooted in our nation's history? The fact that they're defining the right narrowly and insisting it doesn't exist unless it's deeply rooted in our nation's history and tradition is going to severely cut back on many of our fundamental rights," she explains.

Corbin said other fundamental rights like those impacting the LGBTQ community could come into question as well if the Supreme Court continues to use this method to make decisions.

The protest held at the Freedom Tower was just one of dozens held nationwide.

Abortion rights advocates also rallied in Fort Lauderdale.

Protests held in Fort Lauderdale: Watch CBS4's Ted Scouten's report

"Don't like abortion, don't get one, don't like abortion, don't get one," was their rallying cry.

They're furious that Roe v. Wade could be overturned by the US Supreme Court.

Elected officials from the US Congress, state legislature, county commission and a gubernatorial candidate rallied with supporters.

Abortion rights supporters fear this could just be the first step. "We have to protest," said Dana Sanchez, dressed in an outfit from the "Hand Maid's Tale."

"This is not only about women's right to choose. This is about many other rights that are going to be crumbling down," she said.

Using a bull horn an anti-abortion advocate voiced his option. "Why can't we decide as a state if we want to have abortion or not," yelled Chris Nelson.

He and a couple of others showed up in support of the possible overturning of Roe V. Wade.

"The modern-day Democrat Party has gone so far to the left and it is so obsessed with wanting to kill babies in the womb. They can't even handle anyone saying we want to return this to the local level," Nelson said.