Pro-choice Volusia protests planned to oppose Supreme Court's move against Roe v. Wade

When she learned of the Supreme Court's proposed opinion striking down Roe v. Wade, the case that legalized abortion in the United States, Alyce Shelton of Deltona was outraged and this time it was personal.

Shelton, who's now 60, was 10 years old when a 17-year-old camp counselor raped and impregnated her.

"I was almost 12 weeks before my mother realized I might be pregnant," Shelton said Wednesday. With the help of her parents, Shelton had an abortion. "I can't imagine what my life would have been like if I had to carry that child at 10. Ten!"

That's why Shelton, president of the Democratic Women's Club of West Volusia, is helping to organize a "My Body, My Choice March" at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Dunlawton Bridge in Port Orange. The march is one of at least three pro-choice events planned in Volusia County this weekend.

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Also, starting at 6 p.m. Friday at the Artisan Alley in DeLand, pro-choice advocates will be waving signs, while a Women's March rally is set for 10 a.m. Saturday at the Granada Bridge in Ormond Beach.

Shelton, who is the mother of two daughters and grandmother of three girls, said no one should be forced to carry a child at age 10, or any other age, against her will.

Danielle Neetz, vice president of the club led by Shelton, said Republicans and no-party affiliation voters who support the Roe v. Wade precedent are welcome.

"Since 1973, a lot of women's lives were saved because of (legalized) abortion, including mine," Neetz said. "(An abortion) saved my life in 1973. I had a deformed child that was literally killing me. He would have taken my life with him."

Neetz said her husband became a firefighter in 1968 and would come upon the bodies of women who had died from illegal abortions.

If the court strikes down Roe v. Wade, enabling states to pass laws further restricting abortion, Neetz said women will die.

"It's not going to stop abortion. People are still going to do it," she said. "The only question is are they going to do it legally and safely? To me, this is the most horrendous thing you could do to women."

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This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Marches for legalized abortion planned for Ormond Beach, Port Orange