(Lander, WY) – The University of Wyoming (UW) Board of Trustees meeting held in Lander Wednesday evening, July 12, prompted a demonstration from local pro-choice advocates.
Organizer Cristina Gonzalez told County 10 that demonstrators were picketing due to the fact that some of the legislators in attendance “have sponsored and/or co-sponsored/voted for anti-reproductive access bills.”
“It’s a rare opportunity that we have state legislators from different corners of Wyoming come to Lander where we can show them that there are Lander citizens that are pro-choice,” Gonzalez said.
(County 10 could not confirm which legislators or representatives were present at the closed-to-the-public event, and none were available for comment.)
Gonzalez referenced the State’s response to the overturning of Roe v Wade last year, adding that “we will not tolerate legislators who want to police our bodies.”
“They were hired not to make decisions about my healthcare or my daughter’s healthcare or our neighbor’s healthcare, but to make decisions that better our state in economics, retention in schools, in development, and in agriculture,” Gonzalez continued.
“Right now it feels like we have an opportunity to let those legislators know that there are some of them we don’t approve of, or how they vote, or their actions.”
Another demonstrator who chose to remain anonymous stated that they were there to “show the legislative body that they have an entire constituency to listen to, not just a small group.”
“I want them to remember that Wyoming is the state that prides itself on small government, and staying out of people’s business and these kinds of legislative decisions that affect people’s medical care does not live up to the spirit of Wyoming,” they went on to say.
As for any discussion with the legislators at the demonstration, organizers said they made contact with Senator Cale Case, giving him “many thanks” for his “good work” in office in regards to supporting reproductive access,” but no further interactions were reported.