Yesterday, hundreds of NARAL Pro Choice North Carolina activists joined forces with other pro-choice allies throughout the state (including Planned Parenthood, Lillian’s List, NOW, and others) to fight against recent attacks on women’s reproductive health in our state. We were especially proud of our NC State Campus Representative, Hannah Osborne, who spoke at the rally. As Hannah put it: “Choosing birth control, abstinence, abortion, pregnancy or adoption should be my choice. To say someone else is better fit to make decisions concerning my body and my life undermines my education, insults my intelligence and mocks my citizenship.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves!
These are sad times for anyone hoping to pass progressive pro-choice legislation in North Carolina. The past two years have been the worst in recent memory for women’s health. This legislative session, the General Assembly has already proposed two radical anti-choice measures (HB 132 and SB 308), each of which, in its own way, chips away at a North Carolina women’s access to safe and legal abortion. But women are watching. Yesterday I met folks who had driven from every corner of our state to stop the war on women. They will not sit quietly by as the legislators in the capital take away their hard-won rights. They will show up and be counted. As our rally t-shirts proclaimed, “Politicians Make Crappy Doctors,” they do not walk in women’s shoes, and they should not make decisions about women’s reproductive health care.
This has been a good week for those of us who work to promote pro-choice legislation in North Carolina. Our opponents may dominate the general assembly, but our base is strong, powerful, and deeply committed to our cause. Thanks for standing with us on Halifax Mall, and we hope to see you at Women’s Advocacy Day on April 9!
Scroll down and check out the first look of the photos from the Rally, all taken by local photographer (and awesome pro-choice ally) Lillie Elliot. We’ll post more soon:)
NC Blogs for Reproductive Rights 