Activists rally in Zanesville as Roe v. Wade decision still stokes anger

ZANESVILLE — They lined the sidewalk in front of the Muskingum County Courthouse late Wednesday afternoon with one thing in mind — to stand up for women's rights.

Specifically, the protest organized by local college student Darra Durst was meant to show their displeasure with the U.S. Supreme Court's June 24 decision to overturn the Roe vs. Wade court case from 1973.

Unlike its first protest, which was small in nature, this one received far more support. A simple event creation on Facebook resulted in a lively response from those sharing similar sentiments.

"I invited everybody I knew and I shared it three times a day," Durst said. "I asked all of my friends to share it and had their friends invite their friends. We had about a week for it to come about."

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Dozens arrived with expressive signs and megaphones — some arrived in face paint — and ready to chant as passing vehicles, with a few exceptions, honked in support.

"We wanted something bigger so our voices could be heard," Durst said. "Numbers are what moves it."

Durst said her passion for the topic stems from her fear of what the Supreme Court's decision could mean for other aspects of women's rights.

"I'm pro-choice all the way for any woman in any situation, but what it boils down to is we deserve to have basic heath care rights," Durst said. "What really made me mad was my mom looked at me in the eyes last week and said, 'You know, I had more rights at your age than you do now over your body.' And that's upsetting.

"You vote, and you vote, and you vote — but for what?" Durst asked. "You have to be radical left (wing) or radical right. You can't just fall in the middle, because if you fall in the middle then you don't bring change. We want change."

She was happy with the turnout, even as dark clouds from impending storms rolled into downtown in early evening hours.

"I'm surprised, especially with the forecast being what it was," Durst said, adding she was glad no anti-protesters shook the bushes. "I'm happy with the turnout. It makes my heart happy to see so many women and men here coming together for women's rights."

Another activist in attendance, Kristine Fowler-Geis, said she was there to protest the ruling but also her frustration at the state level. While the law has been overturned at the federal level, effectively banning abortions in more than half the states in the country, some can still make their own decisions on whether to implement it.

She said the ruling has left her disappointed, saddened and "not a real first-class citizen in my own country anymore." Her vitriol is aimed at "activist judges and legislators" in Ohio that she feels aren't taking into account circumstances in a woman's life when it comes to unplanned pregnancies.

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An Ohio law went into effect in July 2019 outlawing abortion after the fetus heartbeat can be detected, with no exceptions. That was before the federal overturn that led Ohio legislators to follow suit just hours after the decision.

Soon after, a 10-year-old from Ohio, impregnated by a family member in a child abuse case, travel to Indiana for an abortion.

"Women know what is best for them," Fowler-Geis said. "Women know what is best for their families and their health. Doctors and women should decide when certain medical procedures happen, not some guy in Columbus who is not involved in the decision or the life."

Fowler-Geis, a Canton native who moved to Zanesville after college at Ohio University, was born during the Roe vs. Wade case, long before many of those in attendance were born. Like Durst, she was happy to see the support shown on Wednesday, especially considering the unrest on the topic.

"The women that fought to have that privacy between her and her doctor, I never had to deal with that," Fowler-Geis said. "Now here I am trying to make sure my kids and grandkids have that, too. And that's really what it's about. It's not about abortion — it's about health care and privacy, and who gets to say what is best for a person."

Fowler-Geis acknowledged that abortion isn't the best outcome, but said circumstances arise where it's needed for women's health and the personal well-being of herself and her family.

And that is what brought 20-year-old Ethan McGee, now living in Zanesville, to the courthouse to protest with his girlfriend. Sporting a cap with a Gadsden flag logo, he admittedly leans conservative about many issues.

This is a topic that turned him a different direction after being further educated to its meaning by his girlfriend, he said.

"If she got pregnant we're not financially stable enough to support the child, and she might possibly have things that make her not able to support a child," McGee said. "If she could possibly die from having a child, then I don't want her to have an unsafe birth."

McGee said some recent conversations with others has helped change their outlooks, just as his did.

"They just think people are killing babies and don't think deeper about it, like the fallopian tube births and people that can't support them," McGee said. "Then there is the thing that recently happened with the 10-year-old who was raped by a family member. It's stupid."

McGee was certainly in the minority as a man in the crowd, but he felt the need to attend.

"It's so much more than abortion," McGee said.

sblackbu@gannett.com; Twitter: @SamBlackburnTR

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Roe v. Wade reversal stokes anger at Zanesville protest