Saturday’s “women’s march” in McMinnville was a short walk to begin what supporters describe as a long journey to support a human’s right to choose.
A crowd of 225 people met at noon at Edward Gormley Civic Plaza next to McMinnville City Hall and took to the streets calling attention to the growing threat to a woman’s right to access safe and legal abortion.
“This is a marathon, right? We just joined the marathon,” said speaker Elaine Yorks of McMinnville. “It’s not a sprint, we’re not going to solve anything today but we will combine our energies and make our voices heard, one way or another. But at least McMinnville will maybe get the hint there are a lot of like-minded individuals who are not going to put up with this ... much longer.”
An estimated 600 similar events were planned throughout the U.S. during the weekend prior to Oct. 4 and the formal start of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2021 session.
A man held a sign Saturday reading “Ruth Sent Me,” one of several invoking the memory of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, aka RBG, who for years was a bulwark on the court in defense of reproductive rights.
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The Texas Legislature last month passed SB 8, the nation’s most restrictive law on abortion, an action that speakers said effectively kills the landmark 1973 law Roe v. Wade decision entitling women to choose to have an abortion without excessive government interference.
SB 8 would prohibit an abortion as early as six weeks, and give citizens the right to sue abortion providers and clients.
The federal Department of Justice has sued the state of Texas over SB8, arguing among other things that it violates the U.S. Constitution by giving state law precedence over federal.
“All the marches have been planned as a direct response to what happened in Texas,” speaker Lisa Harrington said. “I’m sure we all know how important that is, but I want to talk about the bigger picture. Abortion is really critical to a woman’s health and personal life, but it also has repercussions that go out and out from there.
"The right wing extremists in my lifetime have been going about this for 40 years. They are in this for the long haul," Harrington said. "I can speak for myself and others that there has been a tendency on our side to be complacent, we had Roe v. Wade, we had it in the bag: ‘that will never happen,’ and they chipped away here and there, and we said ‘it will never happen,’ but, well, it has happened."
"We don’t have RBG anymore and we don’t have the Supreme Court anymore. They have abdicated that responsibility once again. We are once again pre-'72, on our own, and that is why this is so important.”
Yorks said the DOJ suit is cause for hope, "until the Supreme Court — RBG, fix it, please, until the Supreme Court decides to step down off their cloud and change something and not for the worse,” Yorks said.
“But I’m not holding my breath. Roe v. Wade might go down. We’ve all been talking about it for a long time," Yorks said. "We knew when the power structure in this country turned that it would go down. They’ve been designing this a long time."
Terming abortion restrictions, “forced birth,” Harrington said SB8 advocates have portrayed their purpose as protection of unborn children.
“In actuality, the law in Texas explains it better, it sheds true light on their agenda. They don’t care about unborn children. They don’t care about the children once they get here. What they do care about is controlling women’s reproductive choices because if they can control that they can control everything about you and keep you in and oppressive state. It’s oppression, flat-out,” Harrington said.
“We’ve been fighting a long time. There’s a lot folks here who probably graduated from high school about the time I did in 1972, before Roe v. Wade,” Yorks said. That drew large applause, and Yorks said, “Yes, let’s hear it for the gray hairs but let’s also hear it for the young women and men who inherited this mess.
“Our minds are on freedom,” she said. “We need freedom over our own bodies, for crying out loud. Do not tell me not to have a baby because it makes you uncomfortable if I get an abortion. And what happens to that child, that unwanted child, or that child we’d much rather wait five more years until we can afford to have a baby?”
Yorks said “abortion is not easy and no one takes it lightly. We don’t take it lightly, we take it very seriously, but we also take seriously our choice of having a child or not having a child, and if we can keep it legal and keep it safe, in a regular medical clinic.”
“You know people who have been through it, and maybe that’s why this issue is so important to you,” she said.
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After Yorks and Harrington spoke, Saturday’s assemblage marched up Adams Street to Eighth and back via Baker Street, many carrying signs with messages including, “Future voter," “Women’s rights are human rights,” “She Persisted," “I love someone who had an abortion” and “Honk if you love gender equality.”
The need to resume the fight inspired some to join the rally, including Mary Martin, 85.
“I have already done his once and I am devastated I have to do this again,” said Martin, a 60-year resident of McMinnville who walked with her daughter, Cheryl.
“It may wake up a few people who are sleeping. I hope,” Martin said.
Charlie Price of McMinnville said, “I am supporting women’s right to choose, whatever decision they make about an unborn child. I dislike anyone telling someone what to do about their bodies.”
Asked about the impact of marches such as McMinnville’s, Price said, “I think unless you show up and say what you believe, there’s no impact whatsoever. In doing this, we stand up for what we believe is important. You can never predict the outcome of events, as the last five years has shown us.”
Just before the march, organizer Mandi White thanked “the men in our lives, the allies that we have.” She walked carrying her son, Alaska, 3 months, and with daughter, Snow, and husband Braden.
White said she saw what was planned around the country, “so I kind of threw out there, ‘what do we have going in McMinnville?’ and I made an event page on Facebook and it caught on.”
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