Rally to Fight for Reproductive Freedom

 

On May 21, 2019, about a thousand reproductive freedom fighters rallied in Foley Square in New York City protesting the wave of extreme bans on abortion, the stripping away of reproductive rights, and an all-out assault on abortion access. Under the hashtag #StopTheBans, New York City joined more than 450 cities and towns across the nation, challenging the strict abortion laws recently passed in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Missouri. The anti-choice laws are considered an all-out assault on women’s rights, and even outlaw abortions in the case of incest or rape.

 

Crowd at the Stop the Bans Rally in Foley Square, New York City (Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden)

 

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer who recently proposed to allocate money to directly fund access to abortions, making New York the first city in the country to do so, told the crowd, “In New York, we are proud to say that abortion is healthcare, and abortion is a fundamental right. We believe that it is time for New York City to become the first city in the nation to directly fund abortion care and guarantee abortion access to New Yorkers. So when they start to take away our rights, we are going to double down in New York City.”

 

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer (Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden)

 

Gloria Allred, women’s rights lawyer, spoke about her own experience. “I’m here today in New York as living evidence when abortion is criminalized.”

When she was a young woman, she was raped at gunpoint and became pregnant. She was forced to get a back alley abortion in a bathtub performed by someone who was not a licensed healthcare provider. Left hemorrhaging in the bathtub, she was told, “It’s your problem.” She was taken to the hospital and put in a ward with women who had suffered the same fate. A nurse told her, “This should teach you a lesson,” while suffering from a 106 degrees fever.

“Well, the lesson I did learn is, an abortion should be safe, legal, affordable, and available.” She urged everyone to vote for pro-choice women and fight for women’s rights. “No one ever gave women our rights, no one ever gave us the right to vote, we have always had to fight for our rights, and this is the time that we are going to wage the fight of our lives now.”

 

Women’s rights lawyer Gloria Allred (Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden)

 

New York City’s First Lady Chirlane McCray reminded New Yorkers that these bans are about controlling women, including transgender and non-binary persons. “The people pushing the bans have been chipping away at our reproductive rights for a long time. They will not stop until they have criminalized our right to choose all across the country.” She had a message for them, “We will march, we will donate, we will organize, and we will vote! We are New York City; we will not back down, not today, not ever.”

Her husband, New York City Mayor and Democratic Presidential Candidate Bill de Blasio had a message for the legislators who passed the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country, “We see these bans that try and take away rights that were fought for so long. I have a simple message to those legislators who think they can turn back the clock, ‘Hands off the bodies of women, hands off the rights of women!’ We feel the pain for the women who will suffer because of these new laws; we know women will die because these laws were passed and that that shouldn’t happen in our America.”

 

New York City’s First Lady Chirlane McCray and husband, New York City Mayor and Democratic Presidential Candidate Bill de Blasio (Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden)

 

Eve Ensler, sexual abuse survivor, and author of the “Vagina Monologues” thanked Planned Parenthood for being by her side during a difficult time. When she was 23 years old, emotionally traumatized by the abuse she had experienced, addicted to drugs and alcohol, she became pregnant. She recounted how she could barely take of herself, let alone a baby, and how Planned Parenthood helped her. “They took care of me, they nurtured me, they really held my hand. And I made the choice to have an abortion because it will always be my body and my choice.” She continued, “I say to the Alabama, Georgia, Missouri legislators, get your invasive, unwanted, constitutionally violating hands off our bodies.”

 

“Vagina Monologue” author Eve Ensler (Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden)

 

73% of Americans do not want to see Roe v. Wade overturned, and nearly one in four women in the United States is going to have an abortion in her lifetime. Scholars estimate that between 20% and 25% of pregnancies were terminated before Roe v. Wade and that about 200 women died per year because of self-inflicted or botched abortions (though the number is likely to be higher).

 

Photo Gallery:

(Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden)

 

Man showing his solidarity (Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden)

 

(Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden)

 

A reminder of pre-Roe v. Wade times. (Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden)

 

(Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden)

 

Woman holding a sign reminding of the times when abortions were illegal. (Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden)

 

Man showing his solidarity (Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden)

 

(Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden)

 

(Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden)

 

(Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden)

 

(Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden)

 

A midwife reminding everyone of the importance of midwives. (Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden)

 

(Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden)

 

(Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden)

 

(Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden)

 

(Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden)