Planned Parenthood Advocacy of Western Massachusetts partnered with the Valley’s Women’s March to hold a protest against Texas’s restrictive abortion law that came into effect in September on Oct. 2. It was one of over 650 similar marches in all 50 states organized by the Women’s March as a national day of action.
“We are here today to mobilize and defend reproductive rights,” said Deborah Pastrich-Klemer, march organizer and a volunteer with the Valley Women’s March and Vice Chair of the Northampton Democratic City Committee.
Smith Students for Reproductive Justice (SSRJ) organized a group of students to meet with Planned Parenthood representatives and attend the protest. The group arrived with signs and shirts from Planned Parenthood that read “Keep Your Bans Off Our Bodies,” joining the group of over 800 people that showed up to march up and down Northampton’s Main Street. The march ended in front of the Northampton City Hall where people listened to speakers from the community talk about the need to defend reproductive rights around the country.
“I’m from Texas,” said Sophia Bare ‘25, on why she was attending the protest with SSRJ. “As soon as I left, everything got ten times worse. I’m here today to make a difference from up here.”
“It’s not just about the right to an abortion,” added Alena Rooney ‘25. “It’s about the access. We can’t stop fighting because not everyone can access an abortion, even where it’s legal. I want to stress that this mainly affects minorities and people with less means. Rich white women will always have access to an abortion, but not everyone can afford to go out of state to get one.”
“I started learning about this issue later in high school,” said Rooney. “And I realized that this was something I wanted to fight for.”
“I’m really happy to see younger people coming out and really advocating for reproductive justice and fighting to defend our rights,” said Taneisha Mings, Western MA Organizer for the Planned Parenthood League of Maryland. “This ban is a massive blow against reproductive justice and we have to band together to make sure that these kinds of laws don’t create disparities and cut access to the people who need abortions.”
Speakers from all over the community spoke at the protest, including doctors, lawyers, and professors. Carrie Baker, Smith College Gender Studies professor, was one of many who spoke to the crowd about the situation in Texas. “Texas banned abortion at six weeks, before many people even know they’re pregnant. But there’s no exemptions for rape, incest, or fetal health,” she said. “The law allows strangers to sue doctors, nurses, friends, family members, or anyone who supports a person who has an abortion after six weeks. The law attempts to isolate people from support and coerce them into carrying pregnancies to term against their will… And this is the state with a shockingly high maternal mortality rate. This is a deadly law, and rather than passing laws that would ensure women survive childbirth and support the children once they’re born, Texas is coercing women into pregnancy. “
Baker also talked about Plan C, a type of medication that induces a miscarriage, also referred to as a medical abortion. “While we have to fight in the courts and in the legislatures across the country, it’s becoming increasingly clear to me that in many parts of the country we can’t rely on the government to protect our right to abortions… I think today we need to take matters into our own hands,” she said. “Which is exactly what’s happening around the country. Folks are ordering abortion pills online and taking them at home. Did you know that your nearest abortion provider is in your pocket? Abortion pills are very effective and safe– safer than Tylenol– and 95% effective.”
The Texas abortion law bans abortion as soon as a “heartbeat” is present in the embryo, at approximately six weeks into the pregnancy. However, doctors agree that it is not a real heartbeat, as the heart valves in the embryo have not yet formed at six weeks. The law allows for exceptions only in the cases where carrying the pregnancy to term would endanger the mother’s life or lead to “substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.”
To make it more difficult to challenge in the courts and potentially get repealed, Texas has instituted the law such that state officials do not enforce it; rather, any private citizen can sue anyone who performs an abortion or “aids and abets” a procedure. According to Market Watch, the law is projected to disproportionately affect minorities, minors, and low-income people seeking abortions.
