Always keep fighting to protect rights

Years ago, my mom told me about when she marched down the streets of Washington, D.C., in protest of Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey Sr.’s 1992 challenge to Roe v. Wade. She was just in college back then, and yet she found the courage to stand up to what she thought was wrong. I remember hearing this story and thinking about how scary it must have been to have your rights under

attack by a person who wouldn’t face the consequences of their actions, and how despite these attacks, I was grateful to still live in a country where her rights (and the rights of others who can get

pregnant) were protected. My god, how times have changed.

This awful scenario has become reality, with people across the country living in fear of having their supposedly protected rights stripped away because of politics. It terrifies me that politicians like Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey, who has said that the Holocaust “doesn’t even compare” to the “loss of life” caused by abortion, could be in charge of “protecting” the rights of women, as well as Jews, such as myself, in my home state.

Although things look grim now, it is important to remember that it is not too late, nor will it ever be too late, to keep fighting for what we know is right, just like my mom did all of those years back. Whether that be lobbying politicians, writing a letter to the editor — like this one — attending protests and demonstrations or simply voting, there are a plethora of everyday actions we can take to help build a country that will fulfill its promises and protect the rights of everyone.

Alexander J. Torzewski, Lincoln Park