VA High School Students Walk Out Over Roe V. Wade Leaked Decision

VIRGINIA — Students from 45 high schools across Virginia staged walkouts on Monday as part of a Statewide Student Day of Action for Abortion Access organized by Generation Ratify Virginia, a youth-led organization advocating for abortion rights.

Since a U.S. Supreme Court draft majority opinion was leaked on May 2, students have been considering ways to respond to the forthcoming decision. Students then learned about Generation Ratify Virginia's plans to organize walkouts at Virginia schools and joined the effort.

"Individual students from schools across the Commonwealth reached out to us, and we have aided them in planning their walkout and from there, we've had 45 high schools join us," Abby Garber, director of Generation Ratify Virginia, told Patch editor Liam Griffin.

Garber, a 16-year-old junior at Eastern Mennonite High School in Harrisonburg, said “there was a collective feeling among Generation Ratify Virginia student leaders that direct action was necessary as our futures were on the line."

The leaked decision, which was written by Justice Samuel Alito and first reported by Politico, would strike down Roe v. Wade. The decision would likely lead to abortion bans in 26 states, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights policy group.

Abortion is legal in Virginia. The state also does not have an anti-abortion law that would be triggered if the Supreme Court overturns Roe V. Wade.

If overturned, Democrats in Virginia, who control the state Senate, are vowing to block any attempts by Gov. Glenn Youngkin and his fellow Republicans to make abortion illegal in the state.

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In Arlington, about 150 students at Washington-Liberty High School walked out of school at 1:30 p.m. on Monday to protest the leaked Supreme Court decision.

At a rally in Quincy Park across the street from Washington-Liberty, Nick Coughlin, a freshman, said that many in the country who speak up in favor of the right to bear arms and who oppose mask mandates are "are silent when the topic of women's rights is brought up."

"This ruling is an empowerment of the patriarchy," Coughlin said. "We are taking a step back."

Generation Ratify Virginia's student walkouts called for federal and state measures to codify Roe v. Wade and amplify student voices about bodily autonomy.

In support of such legislation, students at McLean High School chanted "my body, my choice" and "abortion is health care" as they walked out of school in support of abortion rights.

Leah Siegel, a McLean High School senior, told Patch editor Emily Leayman that it is important for students to be vocal about abortion rights "because we need to show people and show the government especially that students are watching."

Ella Stamerra, a senior at W.T. Woodson in Fairfax, said "seeing the SCOTUS decision being leaked, we knew we needed to do something."

The rally at Woodson began around 10:20 a.m., which coincided with the start of scheduled study break. The students, who numbered about 100, marched out to the football stadium and gathered in front of a platform that the organizers had set up.

"I thought the turnout was amazing," Stamerra told Patch editor Michael O'Connell. "I really only thought we'd have 20-25 people, but even five people is enough. I'm so happy. All the support, I honestly cannot believe it. It's an amazing experience."

Aubrey Venteicher-Shulman, a senior at Gar-Field High School in Woodbridge, took an International Baccalaureate Higher Level Math exam before leading a walk-out at her school. Venteicher-Shulman, who uses "she" and "they" pronouns, estimated that more than 200 students participated in the walk-out.

"We don't want to be the post-Roe generation," Venteicher-Shulman told Patch after the protest. "Our grandparents fought for Roe v. Wade to be passed, so we want to make sure that is still the law of the land."

Students of all genders participated in the walk-out. Venteicher-Shulman noted that anti-abortion legislation doesn't only affect women; she said that transgender men and non-binary people can also be affected by legislation.

In Arlington, Coughlin reminded his fellow Washington-Liberty students that "restricting access to abortion will not stop abortions. It will only restrict safe abortions."

Patch editors Liam Griffin, Emily Leayman and Michael O'Connell contributed to this article.