'It's not just about abortion': Okaloosa residents rally to protest leaked Roe v. Wade opinion

NICEVILLE — A leaked draft of a United States Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade has sparked protests across the nation, with many local women and men demonstrating in the Florida Panhandle.

One of the first rallies sponsored by the Democratic Women's Club of Okaloosa County since the leak was held Wednesday on John Sims Parkway in Niceville. About 20 people gathered to wave signs in support of the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion across the U.S.

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Deborah Baker-Rian, first vice president of the Democratic Women’s Club of Florida, has been involved in organizing events and sign-waving rallies across Region One, from Escambia County to Bay County.

“We are doing sign-waving to support women’s choice and women’s rights,” Baker-Rian said. “We feel like women’s rights are slowly being eroded, and then last week’s leak made it even more and more important for us to stand up and say something instead of just taking it.”

One man’s sign read “Regulate guns, not wombs,” and a woman nearby held a sign reading “When men can get pregnant, men can decide. Save Roe v. Wade.”

It was Patti Hillsman’s first time protesting with the group after moving to the area from Maryland. Hillsman said the leak published by Politico on May 2 spurred her to get involved with the organization and local rallies.

“Especially with the mid-terms coming up, voices need to be heard and people need to know that there are women that are Democrats in this area and that we do have a voice and our vote counts,” Hillsman said. “It is such an important decision for women, and women should be making that decision for themselves.”

Some longtime members have found the political discourse around abortion rights all too familiar. Judy Byrne Riley said she has attended many protests in support of abortion rights over the years and is saddened to see the ruling still being challenged.

“I’ve been doing this for 50 years and never thought I’d have to keep doing it. For my children and my granddaughters,” Byrne Riley said. “Protesting — making sure that women continue to have the right to have control over their own body and reproductive system.”

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Like many at Wednesday's rally, Baker-Rian said she fears that if Roe v. Wade is overturned, there will be a ban on abortion in Florida and that women will have less access to health care.

“It’s not just about abortion. It’s about a whole gamut of women’s rights,” she said. “It’s very important to us, and I think it should be important to everyone because we all have women in our life — young, old, doesn’t matter.”

Individual states would be able to ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned. It is too soon to say what could happen in Florida, but the Legislature recently passed stricter prohibitions on abortion. A new law banning abortions after 15 weeks takes effect July 1.

“Just because we make abortion illegal doesn’t mean it’s going to stop,” Hillsman said. “That’s why it all started back in the early 1970s. The American Medical Association decided ‘We need to fight for women’s rights because we’re seeing too many women dying.’ It’s a public health crisis.”

“If you listen to the stories of women who are barely past six weeks, women don’t use abortion as birth control and I get very annoyed when I hear that,” Byrne Riley added. “Women use it as the last choice; a fetus that is ill-formed that’s going to die at birth.”

The group gathered from 3:30-5 p.m. to make themselves visible during rush hour traffic along John Sims Parkway.

Many honked in support while a few others shouted obscenities. Byrne Riley said the supporters made her feel “hopeful” that the group was getting its message out.

“I want people to be aware that there are people in this county, on this street, in this neighborhood that don’t believe that Roe v. Wade should be overturned,” she said. “There’s a lot of support. The young women and men need to not be quiet. They just should not be quiet. They need to speak up.”

Another rally was planned in Fort Walton Beach on Friday, and the group plans to rally across from the federal courthouse in Pensacola on June 3. Baker-Rian said more protests and events are being planned across the state in the coming weeks.

“We’ve got 3,000 members who will come to Tallahassee and have rallies. Planned Parenthood is planning rallies. Other women’s organizations are planning rallies,” she said. “We’re going to continue to fight until we can’t fight anymore.”

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Roe v. Wade leak sparks abortion rights rallies in Okaloosa County