Advocates call for keeping abortion legal at Roe v. Wade anniversary rally
Demonstrators call for protecting the right to an abortion at a rally outside Islip Town Hall on Sunday. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
Beth Shapiro had to wipe away cobwebs from the “Keep Abortion Legal” sign she had stored in her Oakdale garage. The 73-year-old retired teacher said she had first used it at rallies in the 1970s.
“I kept it as an artifact,” she said while standing with a group of abortion rights advocates outside Islip Town Hall on Sunday afternoon. “I never thought we'd be here again. Never.”
Shapiro joined about two dozen other people to mark the anniversary of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision that outlined the constitutional right to an abortion.
It was overturned by the court last year, turning the rally from a celebratory event to a call to action.
Leigh-Ann Barde, chair of the Islip Town Democratic Committee, said she helped organize the rally and posted it on social media as an open invitation."Normally we all join on resistance corner [in Port Jefferson] but I think it's time we make our message known outside of one area," she said.
The group stood along Montauk Highway and chanted “Our Body, Our Choice,” while passing cars honked in support. Many held signs with sayings including “We Won’t Go Back,” and “Our Bodies are Not Yours to Control.”
“I think people are not completely aware of how much we’ve lost,” said Shapiro. “I think the young people particularly grew up with free access to abortion and this is a very rude awakening.”
Similar rallies and marches were held around the nation to protest recent laws passed that either outlaw or restrict abortions.
Since June, near-total bans on abortion have gone into effect in Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. Several of those bans are currently facing legal challenges.
While New York has strong laws securing a person’s access to abortion and Gov. Kathy Hochul has stated her support for abortion rights, some activists said those positions should not be taken for granted.
“I’m here to stand up for women in other parts of the country who may not have equal access to reproductive health care," said Kelly Morenus, 34 of Babylon Village. "The bans throughout the country are really scary and a threat to women’s rights everywhere.”
Some of the people participating in the rally pointed out the support of the Republican Party for a national ban on abortions that would supersede laws in states like New York.
“We have to keep reminding them, especially the younger generation, what we fought so hard for,” said Tina Lopez-Garcia, 51, of Brentwood, first vice president of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement's Long Island Chapter. “We want to prevent getting to the point of having laws that take away our rights.”
Anti-abortion advocates timed the annual March for Life marches to coincide with the Roe v Wade decision anniversary. Those events, including the large March for Life gathering in Washington, D.C., this past Friday took on a celebratory tone this year.
Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, said the march was “a somber reminder of the millions of lives lost to abortion in the past 50 years, but also a celebration of how far we have come and where we as a movement need to focus our effort as we enter this new era in our quest to protect life.”
Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignment.
