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Protesters gather in South Bend to rally against Texas abortion law

Gemma DiCarlo/WVPE

There were demonstrations in hundreds of cities across the U.S. Saturday – including in South Bend – to protest the Texas law that bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. 

The Supreme Court declined to block the law last month, and many are worried the court will overturn Roe v. Wade in its upcoming term.

 

Speaking to a crowd of nearly 200 Saturday, local health activist Debra Stanley said that decision won’t affect everyone equally.

 

“Make no mistake – if Roe v. Wade is reversed, it will only disaffect the poor,” she said. “The affluent – they’ll be able to fly to wherever they need to. They’ll be able to pay for those medically necessary D&Cs. Through relationships, they will continue to get what they need.”

 

Stanley added that abortion is a healthcare issue, not a partisan one.

 

“Politics [and] the legal, criminal system has no business in our healthcare issues,” she said to applause and cheers. “Especially for us as women.”

 

Several speakers – including lawyer and former Congressional candidate Pat Hackett and a representative for the local LGBTQ Center – warned that the Texas law lays the groundwork for similar legislation that could harm marginalized communities.

 

“They’re coming for the queers next,” Jennica Liberatore, program coordinator for education and outreach at the LGBTQ Center, said. “That’s what they’re going to do.”

 

Organizer April Lidinsky encouraged residents to contact their state representatives and “follow the news” as the Supreme Court’s new term begins Monday.

 

“I think we need to remember that laws are local and statewide,” Lidinsky said. “So it’s important for us in Indiana – just as it’s important for people in every state – to make sure that their voices are heard, make sure their representatives are truly representing their best interests and to vote them out of office if that is not the case.”

 

Contact Gemma at gdicarlo@wvpe.org or follow her on Twitter at @gemma_dicarlo.

 

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Gemma DiCarlo came to Indiana by way of Athens, Georgia. She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2020 with a degree in Journalism and certificates in New Media and Sustainability. She has radio experience from her time as associate producer of Athens News Matters, the flagship public affairs program at WUGA-FM.