Students lead protest of Roe v. Wade decision on Grant Circle

Jun. 30—A student-led protest at Grant Circle on Wednesday afternoon against the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade last week drew more than 100 students, mothers with small kids, men with signs, and plenty of honks from vehicles speeding by.

It also drew two women who are again on the frontlines: Maine resident Carol Coles, a former Gloucester resident, and Nicole Richon-Schoel of Gloucester.

"It's the two of us 50 years ago standing here with the same signs," Richon-Schoel said amid the honks, as she showed black and white photo on her phone of the two holding "Choice" signs at the same location when they were 27.

"Doing the same thing, in the same place," Coles said as they held newly drawn "Choice" signs. "So here we are again."

When asked how they would rebut the argument by the pro-life movement that considers abortion the killing of a baby, Richon-Schoel said, "I think for one thing it's not about killing a baby, it's never about killing a baby, it's about a woman literally having rights over her own body ... And, you know, the fact that we've stepped backwards so dramatically and then I have a picture of us standing 50 years ago doing the same exact thing. It's heartbreaking for us."

Coles said she has a 52-year-old daughter and three granddaughters and a grandson, and she is concerned for their rights to make decisions about their own health in private. Coles said right before she turned 21, she found out she was pregnant.

It was 1965 and birth control was unavailable.

"I ended up having to go to Canada," Coles said, "to what I thought might be a doctor with my then boyfriend," she said. The couple had already broken up, but they raised money and drove to Canada "to this little office, and I had a procedure there and just hoped that I would be OK, and I have been." She said she had two more children after that "by blind luck. I don't want that for my granddaughter. Not for any of them."

"I think it's important to always say that it's not that we are pro-abortion," Richon-Schoel said. "It's because we really understand that an abortion is often the only option for a woman for any number of reasons and I feel very strongly."

Three founders of the local Youth Peace Movement group organized the protest. The group has organized large Black Lives Matters protests at the same spot in the past.

"I feel that as a woman I should be able to make my own decisions and I feel that my decisions with my own body shouldn't be dictated by the government who has no idea who I am and my business, and it's none of their business," said Jada Exama, 17, of Gloucester, who is a rising senior at Essex Tech in Danvers, and a founder of the Youth Peace Movement. She came with a sign that said "My Uterus My Business."

"By us standing out here today, we are able to make our voices heard not only for women but humans everywhere that don't feel that they are able to make decisions because they are being dictated by our government," Exama said.

Rebutting the notion that abortion is taking a life, another Youth Peace Movement founder, Ella Anderson, who lives in the seaport and is also a rising senior at Essex Tech, said "Nine in 10 abortions happen before a woman reaches 10 weeks and at that point the baby is just cells. If it's going to save a mother's life or potentially save a baby from being put into the very messed up foster care system. That's better than a baby growing up in an awful system or growing up with a mother who can't support them."

Anderson said the Supreme Court's ruling is a setback. Her sign read: "I will not go quietly back to the 1950s."

Gloucester High incoming senior Camilla Wilkins-Bowens, another founder of the group, said, "We just wanted to show our community we're with you, we all stand together in this really hard time and no one should be able to tell you what to do with your own body. It's your body, not someone else's."

Michigan natives Tom Walsh and Alana Withrow, a married couple who live in Marlborough, drove to Gloucester to join the protest.

"This is the first protest that we could attend," Walsh said. "I think the Supreme Court's decision has set us back decades and I think it's time that they react with reality and go with what most of Americans believe in."

"Just as a nurse, we are going to see so many women die from this," said Withrow, who welled up at the thought. "I just think it's a huge slap in the face," she said. "It just shows that women aren't respected. We don't have as many rights as men. Like they just don't care about us as much, and it shows in the laws that they are making."

Gloucester School Committee Vice Chairperson Samantha Watson said it was important for elected officials like her to stand up, talk about these issues and support students "who continue to organize these events, first as Black Lives Matter, now it's pro-choice."

"I have two daughters and their rights shouldn't be based on which state they live in," Watson said.

Ethan Forman may be contacted at 978-675-2714, or eforman@gloucestertimes.com.