Pro-choice protesters take to St. George streets over Supreme Court, Roe v. Wade
Pro-choice protesters gathered on St. George Blvd. late Friday, marching the city's main thoroughfare one week after the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Roughly 100 people showed up to join in, filling up the sidewalks on the corner of 200 East. The crowd, which ranged from younger people to seniors, showed up with signs and t-shirts with pro-choice slogans. Some passersby honked and yelled in support.
“I'm here because everyone should have the right to choose, and I had a child from date rape and never reported it because nobody wanted to believe me and, ultimately, I wanted to get an abortion but turns out I couldn't mentally go through it," said Marissa Nones, a mother of three who joined the protest.
Nones said that if she had not been given a choice, it would have been devastating and there could have been a lot of resentment toward her third child. All of Nones’s kids were at the protest and she said she is open about where her youngest came from.
Others there had megaphones and the common “my body, my choice” phrase could be heard loudly over the passing traffic.
“It feels like my country's going up against me and that they think that I should just be cattle because their population is low. Forced to give birth,” Pro-choice protester Paylee Dunn said. She said she worried about the safety of women during these times.
Laurie Leoncavallo, another protester, who is 45 now, said she was raped when she was 15 and was fortunate to not get pregnant. She said she used to advocate against abortion but after going through such a difficult experience herself, she felt she couldn't judge others for making the decision.
"I would like to say I would never get one but I can't say that because I've been through that," she said. "Now I can't say I would never do it because I know the other side of it."
Utah moved to enact its "trigger law" abortion ban shortly after the Supreme Court's decision was announced. Organizations like the Planned Parenthood Association of Uta
The Planned Parenthood Association of Utah is currently fighting the trigger law that Utah has and others across the state have been protesting the new ban on abortions since last Friday.
To learn more about what Planned Parenthood is doing visit https://www.plannedparenthood.org/blog/roe-v-wade-is-overturned-heres-how-you-can-take-action
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This article originally appeared on St. George Spectrum & Daily News: Pro-choice protesters take to St. George streets over Roe v. Wade
