Reproductive Rights Rally speakers call for political action
The rally Saturday highlighted both personal stories and political discussion, as local legislators warned that Wyoming could follow Texas in effectively outlawing abortion.
A hundred or more Laramie residents turned out Saturday to rally for reproductive rights in Wyoming.
The rally occurred in tandem with similar gatherings, protests and marches across the state and country. The demonstrations were a response to the passage in Texas last month of the most restrictive abortion law the U.S. has seen in decades.
In Laramie, numerous residents — many, but not all, of them women — shared their personal stories, highlighting the terror of lives lived under others’ control. There were tales of life before Roe, legacies of intergenerational assaults, firsthand accounts of the medical complications that frequently come with pregnancy, and stark reminders of the unique body horror of being pregnant against one’s will.
“Pregnancy is not without risk,” one speaker said. “It’s not something women are required to do and it’s not something that you have to do if you don’t want to.”
Several took to the mic to call for concerted, specific political action. Rep. Karlee Provenza (HD-45) was unequivocal about the coming legal threats to abortion rights.
“The truth is that, without your action, Wyoming will give Texas a run for its money,” she said. “The past year was unprecedented in the number of anti-choice bills that passed the Wyoming Legislature … I want you to feel like you have the power to do something, because you do. Without you showing up, these laws are going to continue to come, they’re going to continue to pass.”
The ongoing redistricting process, which will likely shift Laramie and Albany County’s political boundaries, will have a significant impact on Wyoming’s future, Provenza said.
“It’s a long battle. It’s not one day. It’s not one phone call,” she said. “It means showing up when we’re talking about redistricting, the process that the state legislature is going through right now to determine what the lines are for who your representative is.”
Rep. Cathy Connolly (HD-13) drew a connection between the activism of old and the activism needed now to protect abortion rights — between the direct action taken to protect individuals and healthcare workers at abortion clinics in the seventies and eighties, and the electoral action needed to counter state-level abortion bans.
“The assaults are happening in state houses right now,” Connolly said. “And that’s what the Supreme Court is looking at — what are the laws that are being passed in state legislatures, and whether or not they go too far, in order to overturn Roe. v Wade.”
She called on the crowd to get involved in local campaigns next summer and fall, to “assure that a pro-choice candidate gets elected, or an anti-choice candidate doesn’t.”
Following the speeches, those gathered marched up Grand Avenue to Ninth Street and back downtown via Ivinson Avenue.
The new Texas law bans abortions after about six weeks — a point at which most people don’t even know they’re pregnant. There are no exceptions for rape, incest or any other reason. The law also empowers everyday civilians to become “bounty hunters,” offering up a $10,000 reward for those who successfully sue someone aiding in an abortion.