Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
HEADING TO D.C.
Local women to protest in advance of abortion ruling
WASHINGTON » Just a few hours after hearing the news, four Chester County women jumped into cars, Tuesday, and headed for the nation’s capital.
They made the trip in response to Monday night’s leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that would overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion nationwide.
State Rep. Danielle Friel Otten, D-155th of Uwchlan, Democratic State Committee candidate Lani Frank and environmentalist Ginny Kerslake chatted with a reporter via phone from I-95 near Havre de Grace, Maryland. Former Phoenixville Area School District President Lisa Longo drove solo.
While all the women held diverse opinions as to why they took the journey with little notice, they all support a woman’s right to choose.
The women wanted to talk with their representatives, and have their voices heard during a 5 p.m. rally on the steps of the Supreme Court Building. The Supreme Court draft was first released by Politico.
Frank said she wants to preserve “autonomy for our babies.”
She said the Supreme Court’s draft could lead to a slippery slope.
“It’s more than just about abortion,” Frank said.
She said the rights to privacy are stated in the Constitution. She said we could lose the right to marriage equality and LGBTQ rights — and all the rights fought for over the past 50 years.
Friel Otten said she didn’t sleep Monday night.
“I feel the need to get up and do something,” Friel Otten said. “I have a 6-year-old daughter. I work in the Pennsylvania Legislature and deeply understand what is at stake for my daughter.
“We all need to be in the streets for our girls.”
Kerslake said she was headed to the capital to stand up for women across the country and for future generations of women.
She called the Supreme Court draft an assault and was worried about what other rights might be taken away next.
Longo said that when people talk of choice it’s not just about abortion.
“My body is not a tool for political pandering and constitutional rights should not be taken away because of fanatical ideology,” Longo said.
She suggested that we invest more in sex education, promote safe sex and better access to birth control.
“It’s pro-choice, not just proabortion,” she said. “We are not out there telling anyone to get an abortion, we’re also telling them that there are ways to prevent an abortion.”