Hundreds attend rally at the Old State Capitol calling for eased access to abortions - The State Journal-Register
Hundreds attended a rally at the Old State Capitol Saturday organized by Planned Parenthood of Illinois, calling for the repeal of abortion-related laws in Texas and Illinois.
The Texas law, which allows citizens to sue anyone aiding in an abortion, is being challenged by the U.S. Department of Justice and considered the rally's organizers as setting a precedent that is an affront to access to abortions everywhere.
"It is the most extreme and dangerous abortion ban that we've ever seen," said Brigid Leahy, director of government relations for Planned Parenthood of Illinois, prior to the rally. "We've never had anything like this before go into effect and be enforced."
Leahy said her organization has been receiving patients from Texas who are going out-of-state to seek an abortion. Those patients are often of relatively affluent backgrounds compared to the many seeking an abortion in Texas who do not have the financial means to leave the state, she said.
"Illinois can be a safe haven for everyone but we're going to have to fight for it," said Hannah Baity, a University of Illinois Springfield student who spoke at the rally.
Baity along with other speakers called for Illinois to repeal its Parental Notice of Abortion Act, which requires doctors to notify an adult at least 48 hours before a minor seeks care related to an abortion. That process can be bypassed through a court order but seeking an order to bypass parental notice is "humiliating" and counterintuitive, Beity said.
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Illinois is one of 38 states to require parental notice without a court order. There were more than 600 rallies nationwide calling for less restrictions and free access to abortions in the country in the aftermath of the Texas law, which went into effect Sept. 1. Arguments were made in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Texas on Friday to block the law.
Local poet Shatriya Smith also performed after she recounted her past experience with Planned Parenthood and how it helped her learn more about her body.
"I know for a fact that ignorance is the first step to oppression. And the more you know, the better you are at making choices about your health care," Smith said.
Dr. Erica Nelson, an associate professor at SIU School of Medicine, quantified how many women in the country seek an abortion while mentioning that a majority of them are impoverished and are of traditionally marginalized communities.
"We here in the United States cannot afford to go backwards," Nelson told the crowd. "For the safety of our women, we cannot go backwards and put them at risk."
There were no counter protesters or any other pro-life organizations demonstrating at the rally.
When contacted Saturday afternoon, Dave Klestinski, a member of the Springfield Right to Life Civic Committee said he didn't understand "how people can say that the right to have an abortion is healthcare. Killing your child has nothing to do with healthcare. … I don’t know that there’s really any reason to intentionally do away with an unborn child knowing that him or her have a chance to be born."
Rally organizers included ACLU Springfield, Action Illinois, Black Lives Matter SPI, Coalition of Rainbow Alliances (CORAL) Springfield, Planned Parenthood Illinois Action, Resistor Sisterhood, The Sangamon Valley Group of the Sierra Club and Springfield Call 2 ACTion.
League of Women Voters of Illinois was at the rally and helped register attendees to vote. There also were speakers from the Abraham Lincoln Unitarian Universalist Church, Black Lives Matter SPI and the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Contact Riley Eubanks: [email protected], twitter.com/@rileyeubanks
source: https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/2021/10/02/planned-parenthood-abortion-law-protest-springfield/5948510001/
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