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Abortion rights supporters rallied in all 50 states Saturday, including in Annapolis, sounding the alarm over recent laws restricting women鈥檚 access to abortions and reproductive health care.
More than 250 people gathered under bright sunshine at Lawyers鈥� Mall in Annapolis to show their support for keeping abortion safe and legal and offer their full-throated declaration that women should control their own bodies.
鈥淏ans off our bodies鈥� was a popular sign at Saturday鈥檚 rally. Several advocates made the case for strengthening abortion protections in Maryland, and a dozen elected officials spoke and declared their solidarity.
But restrictive new laws in states like Texas and Mississippi were uppermost on the demonstrators鈥� minds, along with the very real possibility that the Supreme Court could overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. Several speakers Saturday warned that Marylanders cannot take the state鈥檚 well-established abortion protections for granted.
鈥淭exas wrote a blueprint,鈥� said Del. Dana C. Jones (D-Anne Arundel).
Karen J. Nelson, executive director of Planned Parenthood of Maryland told the crowd that in legislatures across the country, 600 abortion restrictions have been introduced in the past year, and 90 have been enacted.
鈥�2021 is the most hostile year for abortion services since Roe was decided in 1973,鈥� she said. 鈥淓ven in states like Maryland, we worry about access 鈥� Legal rights do not always equal access.鈥�
Several state policymakers recounted recent efforts to solidify abortion protections and reproductive health in Maryland, from a law that would restore any federal funding cut from Planned Parenthood with state dollars to efforts to withdraw state pension funds from Alabama companies after that state restricted abortion access to laws boosting postpartum and prenatal care.
Lawmakers said they were preparing new legislation to ensure that reproductive services remain accessible and affordable in the state.
In Maryland, abortion rights are enshrined in state law, thanks to a ballot initiative that passed overwhelmingly in 1992. Eight months before he died in 2019, then-House speaker Michael E. Busch (D) floated the idea of putting a question on the 2020 statewide ballot that would further protect abortion rights by placing them in the state constitution, but the proposal was temporarily shelved.
Now some lawmakers want to revive the idea, and state Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D) told the crowd at Lawyers鈥� Mall that he鈥檇 support it if he鈥檚 elected governor in 2022.
In an interview, Del. Ariana B. Kelly (D-Montgomery), a former head of NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland, said she plans to introduce a legislative package that will address abortion access and affordability in the state. The legislation would aim to ensure that the procedure remains affordable and it would seek to increase the number of trained abortion providers in the state. The legislation would also be designed to erase the stigma of abortion in society.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still working out the details,鈥� Kelly said, but added that after the recent Texas abortion restrictions were allowed to become law by the Supreme Court, Maryland lawmakers have begun to mobilize.
鈥淚鈥檝e been talking to my colleagues over the interim and they are really on fire,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey all recognize that we have to do more. It鈥檚 been since the 1990s when we last made significant abortion protects.鈥�
But there will be other legislation as well. Del. Nicole A. Williams (D-Prince George鈥檚) said she has been working on a bill for the past two years that would make it illegal to prosecute women who seek abortions or the people who help them obtain it. That attempts to address a provision in the new Texas law that offers a $10,000 reward to anyone who reports an illegal abortion or identifies the people who helped a woman get the procedure.
鈥淲e are going to bring that ban here to the State House because we are going to hold the line on abortion rights here in Maryland,鈥� she said.
Other lawmakers plan to reintroduce legislation that would raise the legal age for marriage in Maryland 鈥� which currently stands at 15.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unfortunate that in 2021, we have to be here,鈥� Williams said.
Those same themes were echoed throughout the country Saturday, where 650 separate abortion rights rallies took place.
鈥淚t is our job to turn pain into purpose, to turn pain into promise, and to turn pain into power,鈥� Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, told the demonstration on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. 鈥淥ur humanity and our dignity is not up for debate.鈥�
Capital 草莓传媒 Service contributed to this report.
