Access and Choices: Signs of the Times

Last Saturday, there were at least 380 pro-choice rallies and demonstrations in major cities across the nation, including New York, Atlanta, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles. Thousands of marchers were protesting the Supreme Court’s leaked draft opinion which threatens to do away with the Roe v. Wade legislation protecting abortion rights.

In Brooklyn, ten thousand protestors of all ages held posters and wore tee-shirts distributed free with varying messages and images. Protest poster messages ranged from ‘Bans off our Bodies” to “Stand Up for Black Women”.

“Obviously, there is context for the ‘Stand Up’ message in this particular situation,” observed OTP junior field reporter C.J. Williams, 15.

“The words correlate to Black Lives Matter, in the sense that women of color deserve access to medical care just like anyone else if that’s what they want and if that’s what they need.”
Many women attended with children, pre-school through teens. One woman, as seen here, discussed the message on the sign with the boy as he picked it up from the ground. Said Ms. Williams, “I am sure she is teaching him about respecting other people’s rights and the choices they may want to make in their lives. It’s also the other way around for him when he grows up.”

“My favorite signs were the home-made ones when individuals expressed their own personal feelings, in creative ways.” (Some of those can be found in the montage, on this page.)
In New York City, the rally began in Brooklyn, crossed the Brooklyn Bridge and ended in Foley Square near the courts. Photos/text: Bernice Elizabeth Green/P.J.Williams