Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 7/5/2023
NORTHAMPTON — Exactly one year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a youth-led rally donned the steps of Northampton City Hall on June 24 to remind people that the fight for nationwide abortion rights is far from over.
Spearheaded by Generation Ratify Amherst, a local youth-led organization that aims to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, the rally featured organizers and advocates across all ages speaking to those in attendance about the fight for women’s most fundamental rights.
“One year ago today, I was a very normal teenager,” said Alice Jenkins, one of the main organizers of the rally. “And then on my way to the gym, I found out news that would change my life along with so many others.”
Pro-choice advocates at the rally reflected on the Dobbs v. Jackson decision and how it has impacted Massachusetts, the region and the country.
“One year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court took away our constitutional right to determine what happens to our bodies,” said Carrie Baker, a Smith College professor of the Study of Women and Gender. “I’m pissed.”
Since the Supreme Court decision, 25 states have passed laws restricting access to abortion: 14 of them ban abortion at any point during pregnancy, while another six states ban abortion at six, 12 or 15 weeks.
With around 25 million women living in states with abortion bans or tighter restrictions, many have to travel hundreds of miles to get abortion healthcare in a state where it is available.
According to Baker, who is also on the board of Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts, abortion is still legal in 23 states, including Massachusetts, where abortion rights have strengthened since Roe v. Wade was overturned. During this time period, more telehealth providers have become available and there are now over 10 virtual abortion clinics available in the state.
In fact, Massachusetts was the first state to pass a telehealth abortion shield law, which is a law that — among many other things — allows women, girls, trans men and nonbinary people living in states with abortion bans to receive telemedicine abortion care from U.S. providers and receive abortion pills by mail rather than having to order pills out of the country. Six other states have followed suit passing this bill.
Despite these breakthroughs for those in favor of abortion, anti-abortion advocates are continuing to push back on some of these more progressive laws. For example, a lawsuit was filed in Texas that aims to try and take the abortion pill mifepristone off the market, while a 15-week national abortion ban was filed in Congress.
Because of these pushbacks, the fight — as manifested in the June 24 rally — carries on.
Indivisible Northampton handed out flyers with information about actions regarding fake vs. real abortion clinics and how they can deceive and harm women. According to the organization, there are three times the number of fake clinics as there are real clinics.
The Raging Grannies sang a pro-choice rendition of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” called “No! No! No! You Don’t” as well as another song called “We March for Women’s Lives!”
Cowbells were ringing when powerful points were made and passing cars on Main Street honked their horns in support.
Speakers throughout the rally, including recent University of Massachusetts Amherst graduate Madison Press, were enthusiastic in their approach to galvanizing the people at City Hall.
Press, who holds a master’s in public health in Community Health Education from UMass, is the special projects coordinator for the Abortion Rights Fund of Western Massachusetts, which is an organization that provides financial assistance to people in Western Mass. seeking abortions. According to Press, many people have donated to the organization since the decision.
“We are still seeing lots of donations to our organization and across our networks, but the need is quickly outpacing the rate of donations,” Press said. “The Abortion Rights Fund of Western Mass. is so grateful to our amazing state legislators that have worked hard to protect abortion rights…that being said, we are still faced with the reality that a right does not equate to access.”
The Abortion Rights Fund of Western Mass. focuses on resource redistribution and is committed to funding abortions for all callers throughout the state. Beyond that, they also support needs like transportation, as well as abortion and doula support.
“In addition to supporting those in Massachusetts, we are also supporting those in our region and the country, as well as people living in states with strict abortion laws to let them know we are here,” Press said. “I ask you to continue to use the word ‘abortion.’ We must reduce the stigma abortion has, tell your abortion story, and ask people to tell there’s.”
Baker emphasized how important the 2024 elections are to the future of these rights and future pro-choice bills, like the Women’s Health Protection Act, a federal law that creates new legal protection for the right to provide and access abortion care, free from unnecessary restrictions.
“We have to keep the White House, we’ve got to regain the House, and we’ve got to keep the Senate,” Baker said. “The 2022 elections were a sign that abortion brings people to the polls and gets them to vote Democratic.”
During that election year, Baker said places like Kansas — which typically leans conservative — passed pro-choice measures and around 60% of Americans support abortion rights.
“We have to keep fighting and we have to fight at the ballot box,” Baker added.
Ollie Perrault, an Easthampton resident and founding member of the local youth-led group Youth Climate Action Now, spoke about how this fight for women’s rights intertwines with the climate crisis we currently face.
“Women and gender-queer are disproportionally impacted by the climate crisis,” Perrault said. “In 2020…the IUCN Global Gender Office estimated that over 80% of all people displaced by climate-related disaster were women.”
Through this lens, the fight is even bigger than just Roe v. Wade. As evidenced by Perrault, the impacts of climate change perpetuate and magnify the structural inequalities women typically face.
“Generation Ratify and Youth Climate Action Now are working in tandem to address these issues through justice lens in an intersectional and systemic lens,” Perrault said. “We are working to recognize that fighting for environmental justice must mean fighting for gender equality, it must mean fighting for racial equity, and it must mean fighting for reproductive justice.”
State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa (D-Northampton) also spoke during the rally and focused on the hope and inspiration she saw on that day.
“We have 2-year-olds and 5-year-olds today who are going to expect better from us,” Sabadosa said. “No matter how old we are, we cannot let what we think is the limit or most possible in any way be real. We have to push for more, because the 2-year-old, the 5-year-old and the 12-year-old deserve so much better.”
“I want people to leave here today and talk about abortion as a right,” she added. “Talk about the right to privacy and the right to make your own decisions; to decide your own destiny...that’s the fight.”