Pro-choice supporters chant, 'Not the church, not the state. Women must decide their fate,' at UWGB rally.
GREEN BAY - Roughly 150 students and residents marched on the UW-Green Bay campus Thursday for abortion rights while the country's highest court considers overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling.
Students at the university worked with state Rep. Kristina Shelton, a Green Bay Democrat, to hold the rally in response to the draft of the U.S. Supreme Court opinion that was leaked earlier this week. The leak suggests the court is going to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that established abortion as a constitutional right in 1973.
"As a woman and being bisexual, it's one of those things where Roe v. Wade could impact so many different aspects that you don't even think of that aren't even abortion," said student Madigan Fuhrman who helped organize the rally.
Several women said they found the courage to speak up alongside each other at the rally, sharing their own experiences with sexual assault or family members' experiences with abortions.
UWGB student Margaret Aide decided to come to the rally to protest the "infringing of women's rights because abortions are universal health care," she said.
Protestors marched through hallways of academic buildings with their signs. They made their way outside residence halls chanting "Pro-life, your name is a lie. You don't care if women die;" "My body, my choice;" "Abortion bans have got to go;" "Not the church, not the state. Women must decide their fate."
Christine Smith, an associate professor of psychology, human development, and women’s and gender studies at the university, remembers sitting by the radio in June 1992 waiting for the Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey decision that affirmed the Roe ruling.
She remembers what it was like volunteering as an abortion clinic escort bringing patients to the front door and the attacks from anti-abortion protesters.
"It's all about the patriarchy and white supremacy. This is what Margaret Atwood warned us about," said Smith in reference to the feminist write who authored "The Handmaid's Tale."
Former Brown County Board member Cassandra Erickson hopes holding the rally will help normalize conversations about reproductive freedom in the community. Her own mother had an abortion after Erickson was born.
"My father was an addict. My mother did what she had to do for me," Erickson said. "She is not a felon for doing what she did and making the choice that she had to make."
Some men who attended spoke of solidarity within the reproductive justice movement.
Transgender and nonbinary people also made sure their voices were heard at the rally.
Freshman Connor Tenor reminded attendees that abortion is not just a "women's issue."
"I’m transgender. I have a uterus but I'm a dude and this is a weird place for me to be," he said. "I see you and this is your fight, too. Reproductive rights are transgender rights. Reproductive rights are human rights."
Contact Benita Mathew at bmathew@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @benita_mathew.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: UW-Green Bay students rally for reproductive justice
