“Bans off our Bodies” was the rallying cry for hundreds of soaked demonstrators at an abortion rights rally in downtown Roanoke, and during related protests nationwide on Saturday.
Upward of 200 people gathered at noon Saturday outside the Poff Federal Building on Franklin Road, chanting slogans and hoisting signage in support of abortion rights. Similar “Bans Off Our Bodies” events occurred Saturday in towns and cities nationwide, from Washington, D.C., to California.
Abortion is a topic of renewed national interest, after a draft opinion leaked from the U.S. Supreme Court earlier in May. The document shows a majority of justices are in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade, a 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
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“Roe has always been the floor, not the ceiling,” said a “Bans Off Our Bodies” event description online. “The people in your community and across the country deserve the power and freedom to make their own personal reproductive health care decisions.”
As the skies opened up and midday drizzle turned to downpour, a few protest signs became rain shields, but weather did little to deter the crowd, which cheered at each honk of passing cars.
The downtown rally was organized and attended by members of Women’s March Roanoke, Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic, Blue Ridge Resistance Alliance of Virginia and Roanoke Indivisible, according to information online.
Laurie Buchwald, a women’s healthcare provider in Radford and Blacksburg, and said Saturday she attends rallies with the region’s Women’s March groups.
“You see so many women here who fought this back 50 years ago, that’s why you see a lot of people that are gray-haired and still fighting, thinking they didn’t have to,” Buchwald said. “What I am excited to see is all the young women that are here... everybody is fighting just to make sure somebody doesn’t take away their reproductive options.”
Much dogma and misinformation surrounds discussion about abortions, she said. Buchwald, who in the past served on Radford City Council and has run for the state legislature, said abortion is one issue that shows the need for voters to elect more women.
“Nobody here wants to use abortion as birth control,” Buchwald said. “These people just don’t want to have legislators making reproductive decisions for them.”