Protest at City Hall targets abortion law
About 50 people gathered Sunday outside City Hall to protest Texas Senate Bill 8, which outlaws abortions after six weeks and puts the power of enforcement in the hands of individual citizens.
Bearing signs and shirts with slogans such as “Abort Abbott” and “Don’t Mess With Uterus,” the protesters decried what they feel is a tyrannical exertion of control over women’s bodies.
“This is not about ‘saving lives.’ This is about controlling the lives of women, and we will fight back against it just as we have done before,” said Khloe Liscano, 27, one of the organizers of Sunday’s event, to the crowd.
“When abortion rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” the crowd chanted.
The bill, which Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law in May, bans abortions after six weeks, a point at which many people do not know they are pregnant. It also empowers private citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone else who helps someone get an abortion.
The law went into effect earlier this month after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in its favor on a 5-4 decision. The Biden administration has since sued to block the law and pledged to boost access to emergency contraception by funneling money to family
planning clinics in Texas.
“The federal government assisting Texas is just a Band-Aid,” said Zac Vecellio, 27, who attended the protest with members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
“Obviously, it’s much appreciated that women are getting that support from the federal government,
but absolute intervention against this heartbeat bill that has a bounty on it is what’s actually needed, not Band-Aids,” Vecellio said.
A concern voiced by many protesters was that the law will lead to people getting abortions secretly, and in unsafe conditions. One banner featured a painting of a clothes hanger,
sometimes used in the past to perform dangerous, at-home abortions, and a slogan reading, “We won’t go back, we will fight back.”
“This is a terrible day for all women and trans people who are seeking abortions, because we are going to be thrown back to a time when people who need abortions will do them,
and lose their lives or be maimed for the rest of their lives,” said Rona Smith, 67, who traveled from Galveston County to attend the protest.
Specifically, protesters pointed out that the law would fall hardest on lowincome people who cannot afford to travel out of state to receive an abortion.
“It concerns me that it only affects poor women. If I need an abortion, I can just drive down to Louisiana or Colorado or buy a plane ticket somewhere, but that’s not really an option for a lot of women, so it’s really only affecting poor minority women,” said Anna Kapadia, 37, of Houston.