Deb Rakers held a coat hanger attached to a neon green sign that said, “Women’s bodies are not government property.”
Rakers, 69, a retired teacher from Burns Harbor, was around 19 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion.
“I can’t believe we’re having rights taken away from us, civil rights, any rights. We’re moving backwards as a society,” she said, adding almost 50 years ago, her sign read, “Our body, our choice,” a slogan similar to one that the growing crowd at the corner of Lincolnway and Franklin Street in downtown Valparaiso late Friday afternoon soon picked up.
More than 200 people of all ages, many of whom were born after the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, gathered in front of the Porter County Courthouse to show their support for abortion rights in light of a ruling earlier that day by a majority of the Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade and put decisions about abortion back in the hands of state legislatures.
The Indiana General Assembly is expected to consider abortion restrictions during a July 6 special session.
Rakers said her adult son and daughter were shocked that basic health care was being taken away and about “a stacked Supreme Court that was stacked for this purpose, to take away rights.”
The rally, organized shortly after news about the court ruling was announced, was sponsored by Northwest Indiana NOW and Anti Sexist Action, said Julie Storbeck, president of the local NOW chapter.
The goal of the event, Storbeck said, was to focus on voting rights, justice for reproductive rights and calls to action.
“A march and a rally are visible and that serves a great purpose but we need to strategize to organize,” she said, addressing the crowd later to say that Northwest Indiana NOW will be working with the Hoosier Abortion Fund to help women receive reproductive health care.
Abby Hoffman, 32, of Valparaiso, who works at a local church, brought her daughter, 7, to the rally.
“I think leaving it to the states is far more dangerous because we have Gov. (Eric) Holcomb, who praised what happened. It’s archaic, barbaric and it’s not fair,” Hoffman said, adding that the future for her daughter if she remains in Indiana is “terrifying.”
“I think she needs to know that the government does not own her and if they don’t do anything about it now, it will never change,” she added.
Friends Erin Arzich and Taylor Pentecost, both 21 and from Valparaiso, reacted strongly against the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“It’s definitely frustrating and sadness and confusion about why our rights aren’t being taken seriously, which makes me fearful for now and the future,” said Arzich, a photography major at Columbia College in Chicago.
Pentecost, a model, said seeing children at the rally was “breaking my heart.” She hoped that attending rallies, raising awareness on social media and voting would help draw attention to abortion rights.
Arzich added that her actions also include donating to nonprofits and being empathetic not just to cisgender women but trans people and non-binary people as well.
“Because what’s coming next?” said Pentecost, adding she was glad people came out to protest the ruling. “It doesn’t make sense to me, none of it.”
Jacob Forste, 42, a carpenter and musician from Hebron, said he and his wife have 10 kids, including six daughters. Forste, holding a coat hanger with a sign that said, “Your daughter?” attended the rally for his children’s rights, and everybody else’s.
“I don’t believe this stops with this. It’s people’s autonomy,” he said. “This hit me in the face. It’s one of those issues that’s so stalemated, I never thought they’d flip the switch on it.”
Porter Town Council member Laura Madigan, D-1st Ward, held a yellow “Don’t tread on me” flag featuring a depiction of a uterus instead of a snake. She said she spent the day feeling defeated after the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
“I do not have bodily autonomy. I’m like a toddler throwing a hissy fit. I’m a second-class citizen,” said Madigan, 44, adding her children will not have the protection of safe, legal abortion that she has had for her lifetime.
