Dowdy Park rally for abortion rights in wake of Supreme Court ruling

By Michelle Wagner | Outer Banks Voice on July 11, 2022

(Photo by Kip Tabb)

Holding handmade signs in protest of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 24 decision overturning Roe v. Wade and reversing a women’s constitutional right to an abortion, about 200 people gathered at Dowdy Park in Nags Head on the afternoon of July 10 for a “Bans off our Bodies” Rally for Reproductive Rights.

The rally was sponsored by a coalition that included the Dare County Democratic Party, the Democratic Women of Dare, the Progressive Caucus of Dare County, the Indivisible/Stronger NC OBX and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Outer Banks. Speakers ranged from local activists and mothers to 2022 Democratic candidates such as Barbara Gaskins (U.S. House of Representatives District 3) and Heather Euler (Dare County Board of Commissioners). Former Chief Judge of North Carolina’s Court of Appeals Judge Linda McGee also spoke during the event that lasted a little over an hour.

“At times, we have to be willing to stand up against adversity, and we have to say enough is enough. And today I stand here and say enough is enough,” declared Gaskins, eliciting cheers from the crowd.

(Photo by Kip Tabb)

“I will not take one step back into the 50s or the 60s…We must do better and a woman’s right to choose and access to safe abortions must be ensured and preserved across this nation and right here in North Carolina,” she continued. “We must ensure the right to safe abortions, and we must address the social disparity to allow access for all.”

“Politics has no place in what happens with my body or any other woman’s body,” declared former Democratic candidate for the Dare Board of Commissioners, Amanda Hooper, during the rally. “This is between me and my family. It’s between me and my doctor and it’s between me and my god.”

Unitarian Universalist Community Minister Rev. Dr. Gaye Morris stated that people “are disgusted by the use of religion to take away the rights of half of our population to make their own decisions about their own bodies.”

Speaking of the anti-abortion movement, she added, “By calling themselves pro-life, they have painted a picture of us who are for women having autonomy and making their own reproductive health decision as anti-life…A pro-life movement would ban assault rifles while enacting Medicare for all, universal childcare and a living wage.

For her part, Dare County mother Macey Chovas told the crowd: “We have to speak up. Saying nothing, doing nothing is only furthering the oppression and this is not the life we deserve, nor do we want to leave for the next generation. We must all do what we can, nothing is too small. A small step forward is in fact a step forward.”

In closing, Dare County Democratic Party Chair Susan Sawin urged rally goers to take action.

“Make sure that you write to your senators, your representatives, your congresspeople, committee members who don’t represent you who are considering bills that will curtail your rights,” she said. “Be vigilant, be vocal, talk about it…Now is the time to be vocal. And finally, vote.”

(Photo by Michelle Wagner)