Newburyport says it loud: Our bodies, our decision
May 16—NEWBURYPORT — Supporters of women's health care needs and reproductive health care rights let it be known loudly that access to those rights, including abortion, needs to remain in place.
About 500 women and men stood under the hot sun Saturday in Market Square, holding handmade signs and receiving support from passers-by in cars. Saturday's weather contrasted sharply with the news of a typically cold winter day in 1973, 22 days into the new year, that the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that women should have access to abortion services in all 50 states.
Now, 49 years later, a draft decision authored by Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. indicates that the nation's highest court may overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade federal law. The draft document was first reported by media outlet Politico, which broke the news earlier this month.
Newburyport's women's rights rally, which drew people from around New England, was one of many such rallies across the country Saturday.
The rally, Bans off our Bodies, was sponsored by Indivisible RISE Newburyport, the Women in Action Huddle of Greater Newburyport and the Newburyport Democratic City Committee in partnership with the Women's March Foundation, Planned Parenhood and pro-choice action organizations around the country, said event organizer, participant and Newburyport resident Karen Trowbridge. This event was part of a national day of action.
Debbie Hart-Klein, the event's lead organizer and a member I-RISE and the Women in Action Huddle, explained how the protest came together here.
"It is maddening that we are being set so far back and still need to be fighting for women's rights. However, given that it is necessary, I was proud to be an organizer of this event and thrilled by the turnout," Hart-Klein said. "We had a huge crowd, people brought great signs and enthusiasm, the cars passing by were extremely supportive and motivating, and everything was without a hitch. This is just the first step, with much work to be done and many of the rally participants energized to do it!"
The rally drew from all age groups, including women who remembered what it was like before Roe v. Wade, and those whose teenage years were marked by its passage in the early 1970s.
Some rally participants noted that women born after 1973 have never known what it is like to live in a time where abortion services are as safely and readily available.
"It was emotional for me to see the huge crowd of grandmothers, their daughters and grandchildren holding signs and chanting," said Maria Chanin, also an event organizer and Huddle leader.
Even after the 1973 ruling, the political and social tenor involving women's access to abortion has never quieted down.
Roe v. Wade's passage continues to be a question for Supreme Court nominees and a stance that state and national political hopefuls are willingly or unwillingly pushed to take.
Most recently, this was true in the confirmation hearings of current Supreme Court Associate Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh. A noncommittal response that Roe v. Wade is settled law does not give a clear view of how a high court nominee would actually vote on Roe v. Wade's future.
This uncertainty surrounding the ruling's future, combined with the Politico leak, resulted in women's rights supporters taking swift and public action.
"It's inspiring to have this many voters speaking out and letting all elected officials know that we will not be quiet and we will not allow our rights to be taken away," said Boyd Hancock, an event organizer and I-RISE leader.
Representatives from Sen. Diana DiZoglio's office and Congressman Seth Moulton's office also attended the rally, according to Trowbridge. Statements from DiZoglio and Moulton were not available.
Lisa D. Connell is the editor of The Daily News of Newburyport.
