Rally For Women’s Reproductive Rights
Organizers of the 11/27 banner drop in support of reproductive rights at First Churches Northampton. Photo: Lisa Pierce Bonifaz
Source: Generation Ratify Amherst
Over thirty people gathered in the cold weather on Saturday (11/27) at First Churches in Northampton to hang a banner stating “Reproductive Rights Are Human Rights: Protect Roe v Wade.” The event was sponsored by Generation Ratify Amherst, and Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund Of Massachusetts
Speakers at the event were Cady Reiken, on behalf of Generation Ratify Amherst, State Representative Lindsay Sabadosa; Greta Hougen Smith on behalf of Students Againist Sexual Harrassment (SASH),;Ana Devlin Gauthier, Amherst Town Councilor Elect from District 5; Gina Louis-Sciarra, Mayor of Northampton Elect; Wendy Sibbision, Author of Helen in Trouble; and Shanique Spalding, an organizer with the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts. All of the speakers discussed their unique experiences working against sexual assault, working toward pro-choice legislation, the need for comprehensive sex education, the immorality of banning abortion, and why we must continue to fight for Roe and our reproductive rights.
Generation Ratify Amherst got involved in this campaign through the national campaign ”#Rally4Roe,” in efforts to ensure that the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, soon to be heard by the US Supreme Court, does not strip away women’s civil rights. The case under consideration, Thomas E. Dobbs, State Health Officer of the Mississippi Department of Health v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, involves a Mississippi law banning all abortions over 15 weeks gestational age except in medical emergencies and in the case of severe fetal abnormality. In this case, Mississippi is asking the Court to overturn the long-standing precedent of Roe v. Wade.