On Oct. 2, the women of Fresno filled the four corners of Blackstone and Nees avenues for the Women’s March for Reproductive Rights. Beginning at 9 a.m., approximately 100 marchers filled each corner of the intersection.
With only three weeks to plan the march, the Women’s March for Reproductive Rights organization had excellent turnout with more than 10,000 marchers across the nation.
“It is everything we could have hoped for, and we are very pleased with how Fresno came out,” said Samantha Snow, a 21-year-old committee member.
“Since we only had a small amount of time to plan it, we had a great turnout and we are very excited for what is to come in the future.”
The Women’s March for Reproductive Rights was featured on numerous local news channels including ABC30 and Valley Now. It was a positive and peaceful environment that also included many men and children.
Oct. 2 was a special day for many reasons—one of them historical. Some of the attendees were original members and marchers from the beginning of the organization, which was around 1975. Those women have never stopped fighting and wanted to join forces with the newer generation against the discrimination of women’s reproductive rights.
On Sept. 9, news broke that the Department of Justice would be filing a lawsuit against the state of Texas for its newly passed abortion law. The Texas law states that no abortions are permitted after the six-week mark of pregnancy. In many cases, women are not aware of their pregnancy that early.
Once the Supreme Court dismissed cases that stripped women of their basic constitutional rights, members of the Women’s March for Reproductive Rights saw a light at the end of the tunnel.
“Our next goal is to establish a Fresno chapter for the Women’s March and just try to be as active as possible.,” says Snow.
“Everyone always works together to make sure we are all up to date on social issues so we continue to keep our constitutional rights.”
These women are continually working hard to look for any surfacing issues and to help spread awareness. Now that this march is over, that is not an excuse for them to stop fighting, but rather an opportunity to keep fighting.
They plan to make their next appearance at a Fresno State Take Back the Night event in the near future. Take Back the Night is an intersectional feminist activist group that provides a safe space for individuals wanting to make connections with like-minded people.
The Women’s March for Reproductive Rights organization also plans to team up with Clovis West High School to educate adolescents on current social issues.
As of now, Fresno does not have an official chapter for the women’s organization, but Snow, and the rest of the hard-working women, are determined to form one soon. Once formally established, the women aspire to continue growing bigger and better with every march they host in the years to come.
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