1 day after Roe v. Wade overturned, abortion rights advocates protest in Bluffton
A rally against the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that guaranteed the right to an abortion, was held Saturday at the Beaufort County Government Center on Bluffton Parkway.
The rally was organized by the Beaufort County Democratic Party and started at 10:00 a.m.. By 11, people were spilling out down Bluffton Parkway. Honks of support could be heard often from cars traveling down the busy road.
Many of those in attendance said the reason for protesting the decision was simple: body autonomy.
“I’m so sick of people deciding what women should do with their bodies,” said Sherry Lee, wiping tears from her eyes under her sunglasses. “I am fearful, I am tearful that they’re doing this to these women. I’m sorry it makes me cry.”
Some were fearful about the future of their families.
“I’ve had my kids, I’ve gone through adulthood and childhood and I’m not worried about myself anymore,” Carrie Strong said. “I’m worried about my two children and their future and being able to have a voice. And their voice is not being heard right now.”
Strong came to the rally with her husband and their two daughters.
“And right now, my daughter and probably my grandchildren are gonna be having, as a woman, less rights than my mother (did).” said Mayra Rivera, the former chair of the Beaufort County Democratic Party.
Many of those in attendance focused on enacting change through the ballot box, specifically by electing Democrats.
“This is the year,” Strong said. “If it doesn’t happen this year, it never will.”
Many expressed a fear that the overturning of Roe v. Wade was only a stepping stone to further Supreme Court reversals.
In a concurring opinion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case that was the basis for overturning Roe v. Wade, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the Supreme Court should also reexamine decisions related to contraception, same-sex consensual relations and same-sex marriage.
“The decision of the Supreme Court opened a door,” Rivera said. “That is a dangerous door.”
The protest were peaceful with no no anti-abortion counter-protests or police presence.
After the announcement that Roe had been overturned, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster tweeted that he would work to have South Carolina’s fetal heartbeat bill go into effect as soon as possible. He wrote he would “immediately begin working with members of the General Assembly to determine the best solution for protecting the lives of unborn South Carolinians.”
With the fetal heartbeat bill, abortions will become illegal in S.C. after a heartbeat is detected in the fetus, which is typically after about six weeks.
