‘No one has the right to tell me what I have to do with my body’
Protesters in Highland sound alarm for rights as abortion decision looms
As abortion rights protesters gathered on the corner of Ridge Road and Indianapolis Boulevard Saturday afternoon, someone driving by yelled, “Baby Killers!”
Some of them took the bait and yelled back at first but then realized the comment didn’t hold any power over what they were out there doing. In fact, it energized them to protest louder.
“I guess they thought we care about what they think,” one of the protesters said with a shrug.
Some 40 men, women and children in Highland joined thousands of abortion rights supporters across the nation to express their anger over the possibility that Roe v. Wade — the U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized abortion in January 1973 — will be overturned next month by that same court.
The demonstrations are what organizers are calling a prelude to a “summer of rage” in response to the May 2 leak of a draft opinion showing the court’s conservative majority ready to reverse the ruling.
The court’s final ruling, which could give states the power to ban abortion, is expected in June, after which roughly half of U.S. states could ban or severely restrict abortion soon after a ruling vacating Roe, observers say.
There were large gatherings in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and Chicago with some smaller counter-protests, Reuters reported.
Lori and Kim, two protesters who asked that their last names not be used because of their employment, were participating in their first-ever protest. It was one they never envisioned they would have to take part in.
“I don’t want this generation to not have what we’ve had,” Kim said.
Rachael, who also asked that her last name not be used, said she wants her 6-year-old daughter to have “more rights than a corpse.”
“You can’t force someone to give blood and you can’t force them to give up an organ, but you can force them to give birth,” she said of what could happen. “And if they were serious about adoption, they would lower the fees. As it is, there are so many kids in
foster care now.”
Libre Booker, of Portage, was angry to have to be out again fighting for rights that have already been won.
“I’m tired of this BS,” she said. “No one has the right to tell me what I have to do with my body. This dystopia we have now is real, yet unreal to me.”
Local activist Lorell Kilpatrick reminded the crowd that abortion rights are intertwined with the working class because the people who have all the money are fine with punishing those who don’t.
“These rich people don’t care if we have rights or not, because they’ve always been able to get (safe abortions) if and when they need them,” she said. “And they’re extremely uncomfortable by our voices because they haven’t noticed the oppression going on. That’s why we have to fight back.”
Paul Kaczocha, of Gary, remembers fighting for the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1960s and 1970s. It’s never been passed.
“It’s unbelievable that we’re going backward,” he said.
Another demonstration is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday on the Crown Point square.