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Southwest Florida Red Cloaks say they are fighting for human rights

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FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Southwest Florida Red Cloaks are back on the streets protesting.

The group sent a message after listening to the oral arguments of the Mississippi abortion law.

The group made it clear that they believe woman's rights to their bodies are human rights.

“Women who are out there fighting for their rights whether it is body autonomy or equal wages," Deborah Hopkins of the SWFL Red Cloaks said.

Hopkins has done this for years. She was in the first abortion-rights movement.

“I was in the fight originally back in the ’60s and '70s. I never thought we would be here again," she said.

She said the latest Supreme Court oral arguments has her fired up.

“I got the distinct impression this is not going to go the way that those of us that support woman rights want it to go," Hopkins said.

She and the SWFL Red Cloak geared up to rise for human rights.

“It’s my responsibility if this is not over to be out until it is," she said.

The group stood silently on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The street filled with cars caught many drivers' attention—some honking at the SWFL Red Cloaks and others voicing their opposition.

One car yelling, "why doesn't a baby have a body. It ain't your body; it's the baby's body."

The opposition feels life starts at conception and that no one should legally kill others.

“We live in a misguided society where people think it is their right to destroy another life," Teddy Collins, an anti-abortion supporter, said.

He wants Roe v. Wade to be overturned as well as Father Michael Orsi.

“I have no right to destroy another life because it is inconvenient for me or for my career or whatever the case may be," Father Orsi said.

He supports legislation like the Texas and Mississippi abortion ban, but members of the red cloaks stood outside to protect Roe v. Wade.

They hope their silent protest will protect women's rights to reproductive health.