'We aren't going to be quiet': Protesters express support for abortion rights

Jul. 12—Dalton resident Tiffany Hilley said as a mother it was important for her to come out and support abortion rights.

Hilley was one of about 50 people who took part in a Northwest Georgia Women's Rights Protest on Saturday at the Whitfield County courthouse. Those at the rally expressed concern at the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 court decision that had put in place constitutional protections for abortion.

"It's important that every woman stands up for our rights," said Hilley. "I have two 14-year-old daughters, and it scares me to death. If something were to happen to them, it could ruin their lives. They wouldn't be able to finish school. They wouldn't be able to go to college. I was a young, teen mom. I know how that is, and it should be up to the mother to decide."

Hilley said she was disappointed but not surprised that the court voted to overturn Roe.

"It had been leading up to it for a while," she said. "In one of the 2018 presidential debates Donald Trump said he would appoint justices to the Supreme Court who would overturn Roe. and sure enough, he did."

The court's decision returns regulation of abortion to the states. In 2019, Georgia lawmakers banned most abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is typically around six weeks. Hilley said she is concerned that lawmakers might try to enact even more stringent regulation of abortion.

"Until we can get this latest case overturned or get some action federally, we are going to fight for our rights here in Georgia," she said.

Catoosa County resident Elizabeth Marrow organized Saturday's rally along with other women from Northwest Georgia who are concerned about abortion rights.

"We hope to get some people registered to vote today," said Marrow, who was wearing a shirt that read "No Country for Old Men" with an image of a uterus and ovaries. "We hope to make some people more aware of what's going on, to see what we are doing and do some research."

Brandi Brown of Cohutta said she feels very strongly about abortion

"Women should have a right," said Brown, who was wearing a shirt that said vasectomies prevent abortions. "You can't make the right decision if you aren't given the chance to make a decision. I have two daughters, and I don't want them to live in a world where they can't be themselves, where they can't make their own choices, they can't take care of themselves and their bodies."

Brown said she hoped the rally showed women that others are standing with them.

"We will be vocal for them until this gets changed, and we know this will be a long haul," she said. "We are here to show we aren't going to be quiet. We aren't going to sit down. We are going to keep getting in their faces until this is changed."

Debby Peppers, who chairs the Whitfield County Democratic Committee, was one of several local Democrats who took part in the rally.

"This is a right that we had and was taken away," she said. "That's not OK. It feels like we are backing up. Georgia has historically been very anti-governmental interference, and this is governmental interference at the most personal level. I've had women tell me they had an abortion and regretted it. I think 'You had that choice, and now you want to take it away from others because you regretted it.' I'm not OK with that."

Peppers said women in Georgia will have to fight to keep abortion rights from being rolled back further.

"The fight is now at the state level because state legislatures will decide what the limitations are, if any, to abortion access," she said. "There are people (in the state legislature) who don't want any access to abortion. It's important that we elect people who have a little more common sense and give people access (to abortion)."

Whitfield County resident Jan Pourquoi said he felt it was important to show his support for abortion rights.

"I believe women should have the right to have an abortion," he said. "Opposing that right is, in some cases, flat out immoral. I don't think, for instance, you should insist that a 10-year-old girl be forced to have a child. It's immoral to insist that a woman be forced to deliver a child who has little chance of survival because it is severely handicapped."

Pourquoi described himself as "very conservative."

"I'm a fiscal conservative," he said. "That hasn't changed. I'm not a social conservative. I never was. At one time, I considered myself a Republican. In many ways, I still do. Barry Goldwater (the 1964 Republican Party presidential candidate and long-time U.S. senator), the grandfather of the conservative movement, was pro-choice. But the Republican Party has changed."

Whitfield County resident Shannon Bearfield said as a feminist "I've got to stand up for my fellow women."

"Women don't have abortions because they want them," she said. "They have abortions because they need them."