THUNDER BAY – A rally was held today to support Women’s rights after a leaked document revealed that the United States Supreme Court was looking to overturn Roe V. Wade and allow states to outlaw abortions.
“Right away, I was horrified as a woman and as a mother. I then contacted my very good friend Jason Veltri who’s with the Rainbow Collective and said what do you think we should do? What can we do? And we hemmed and hawed,” said Anne Antenucci, Co-organizer of the event.
“And as more news broke and more states said what they’re going to do and then also the various levels of government here in Canada, various parties were very noncommittal with their answers as to what would happen here. We decided it was time to hold a rally.”
Many gave speeches at the rally, sharing their own stories and situations and why this fight is important to them like Linda Kelly, CEO of Kelly Mental Health, who says she is comforted by the willingness to fight for human rights shown by the people of Thunder Bay.
"I'm reassured that a lot of people see this as a real threat and that people are going to stand up for their rights because we can't become complacent. Too many people have been, and rights are being rolled back all over the world," Said Kelly.
The Honourable Patty Hajdu, Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay-Superior North and Minister of Indigenous Services also spoke at the event and said she too was pleased that dozens of people came out to support women’s rights.
“Even though it feels so far away from us in terms of different political landscapes, in fact, women’s rights and autonomy are always under threat even here in Canada,” said Hajdu.
“And so to see people come together, men and women, two-spirited people, come together to support the autonomy of women is very important.”
The crowd was filled with people from all ages, from youth to the older generation who had to fight for pro-choice in the past. All were standing by in support of each other, with the older generation gave advice to the younger generation.
“Fight now. Just fight now because you don’t want to see your rights deteriorate,” said Sandra Brown.
“When I think about the fight before, you weren’t only fighting pro-choice, you were also fighting for rights within relationships, and you were fighting for the gay and lesbian issues. It was part of freedom to love.”
