The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Abortion-rights supporters rally in Guilford Saturday
GUILFORD — About 150 men, women and children marched around the Guilford Green chanting “Our Bodies, Our Choice,” “Keep Abortion Legal Keep Abortion Safe” and “Hands Off Our Bodies” led by Dawn Carafeno, using a bullhorn and wearing a “Handmaid’s Tale” costume, Saturday, May 14.
The rally, attended by some 300 people, was organized to protest a Monday, May 2 leaked draft U.S. Supreme Court opinion to strike down Roe v. Wade, a 1973 court decision establishing the federal legality of abortion.
The long red cloak and white bonnet Carafeno wore were a nod to the dystopian Hulu TV show, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” based in fictional Gilead, a totalitarian society ruled by a fundamentalist regime that treats women as property of the state.
“It feels like we are in Gilead,” said Carafeno, who organized the “Stand Up & Fight for Reproduction Rights” assembly Saturday afternoon.
“We are having a fight in Hartford over reproductive rights and we’re having a fight in our country over reproduction rights,” said Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz.
“This is how angry and concerned people are over the potential loss of our constitutional rights with whatever the Supreme Court says,” Bysiewicz added, “but its drafted opinion created a lot of darkness in our country because all of a sudden people realize, and we knew it was moving in that direction, there’s a very real possibility and people are extremely upset about that and they want to make their voices heard.”
Bysiewicz was joined by state lawmakers and residents from the Shoreline area, showing their support for women’s safe access to health care.
Guilford High School student Ellie Thomasson, 15, held a placard reading “Men cause 100% of unwanted pregnancies.”
“I’m young and I don’t want my rights taken away,” she said. “I’m going to get older and I still want the right to choose.”
State Sen. Christine Cohen, D-12, urged attendees to get out and vote to protect their rights.
“We need to recognize that codifying Roe v. Wade into our law is simply not enough,” she said.
“We need to take it further,” Cohen said. “We need a constitutional amendment and we need to continue to stand up for women’s rights. We need to continue to stand up for reproductive health care and those rights.”
“I know we have our legs that can march,” she said.
“We’ve got our voices that can speak out in protest. But, most importantly, we have the right to vote and make sure you use it.”
Branford resident Linda Mollow held a handmade sign that read, “Abortion is a medical procedure Abortion is healthcare Abortion is a woman’s choice.”
As the sound of church bells filled the air, she talked about attending the rally with her 16-year-old daughter, Ebie Mollow.
“I want her to have all of the choices that she may have in her future and it’s her right to decide what happens to her body and I wish her all the most amazing reproductive choices in the future, that they’re hers,” she said.
Katy Beiner, a senior at Madison’s Daniel Hand High School, talked about her generation as cars honked in the background.
“I do think we are more willing than ever to respect people’s differences,” she said. “Not only that, but to stand up, to call our peers out, to be at events like this. For me, I see a lot of frustration because we do feel like it’s one step forward and 50 steps back.
“All we can really do is exercise our right to protest and to gather and to show up here, today, and fight against this,” she said. “We’re not going to continue to have history push us back.”
Branford resident Tom Laurenson, 73, addressed the crowd. As he stood on the stage he noted the flags flying high on the flag pole next to him.
“Up there is the flag of Ukraine,” he said. “We all know what they’re fighting for. What we are fighting for is every bit as important and that fight must be fought with just as much vigor.”
“There are so many men who don’t seem to be too energized by it,” he added. “I think they should be.”
This is an issue that every single person should be concerned about said state Rep. Sean Scanlon, D-Guilford.
“What’s at stake is not a women’s issue, it’s an American issue,” he said. “It’s about healthcare. It’s about our rights as people. They are under attack and we must stop that.”