South Bend crowd rallies over women’s reproductive rights as part of national movement – South Bend Tribune

SOUTH BEND A crowd consistingpredominantly of women gathered in downtown South Bend late Saturday morning as part of a national movement over women's reproductive rights.

The Rally for Reproductive Justice in Indiana - South Bend was part ofmorethan 650 marchesinall 50 statesand Washington, D.C. organized byWomen's March protesters and, locally, by the Michiana Justice Coalition and other similargroups. It comes a month aftera Texas lawbanningabortions after six weeks of pregnancy went into effectanddays before the Supreme Court is scheduled to reconvene on Monday.

Local organizers say it was purely coincidental the rally was scheduled for Saturday, mere weeks after two conservative Supreme Court Justices, Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito, eachspoke at the University of Notre Dame on topics such as a'race-obsessed world' and 'shadow dockets.'

More: Justice Alito says nothing 'shadowy' about Supreme Court emergency orders during talk at Notre Dame

Local organizer Molly B. Moon said the ultimate goal of Saturday'srally was to bring awareness to the issue and how it affects women nationally and locally.

"The rally is going to have action stations where people will be able to register to vote, figure out how to get involved and speak out against this egregious behavior on American democracy," she said earlier this week.

Attendees carried posters saying "mind your own uterus" and "my favorite season is the fall of the patriarchy." Darcie Cichon of LaPorte and Suzanne Hall of South Bend both wore shirts that said "sugar and spice and reproductive rights."

"I feel like if this is the first step, then what's next?" Hall said. "Like (Vice President) Kamala (Harris) said, there's no rules on the book that say what a man can do with his body."

According to USA Today, Women's March executive director Rachel O'Leary Carmona said that while abortions have never been fully accessible, aMississippi challenge to the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, Texas' abortion legislation, and the possibility of other states following with similar laws, represent an "unprecedented attack" on reproductive freedoms.

"For a long time, groups of us were ringing the alarm bell around abortion access and many of us were told we were hysterical and Roe v. Wade will never be overturned," Carmona told USA Today."But now it's clear that our fears were both rational and proportional. We are at a break-glass moment for America, and now's the time for mass mobilization and federal action."

New legislation: House passes legislation protecting the right to an abortion, but bill faces unlikely prospects in the Senate

In August, a federal judge struck down several of Indiana's abortion laws, such as bans on telemedicine and laws saying only physicians can performcertain kinds of abortion care. Other laws, however,were upheld in the judgement, such as requiring an ultrasound before an abortion and that medication abortions meet FDA standards.

Following the ruling, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita appealed the federal judge's decision up to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the IndyStar reported.

On Saturday, several area leaders spoke at the local rally in South Bend in front of the Morris Performing Arts Center, including attorney and formerDemocratic nominee for Indianas 2nd District U.S. House seat Pat Hackett.Hackett prefaced her speech saying she was speaking from a point of view as an "attorney and personof faith."

"The fact that the current Supreme Court in its majority allowed this (Texas) law to go forward at this time is ominous. Women in our nation are under attack, ourconstitution and our rule of law are under attack and these assaults will metastasize in other states and in other populations, including Indiana unless we do something," Hackett said."Economic justice and ending violence against women getting access to healthcare including reproductive healthcare reverenceslife. The Texas law does not. ... As an attorney and as a person of faith, Iask you to join me, Iurge our dissent and our action."

Contact Mary Shown at 574-235-6244 and mshown@gannett.com. Follow heron Twitter:@maryshownSBT and @marketbasketSBT.

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South Bend crowd rallies over women's reproductive rights as part of national movement - South Bend Tribune