CHICAGO — To commemorate the 49th anniversary of Roe v Wade, a diverse national panel of speakers will demand that the U.S. Supreme Court uphold Roe, defending 50 years of legal abortion, and that supporters mobilize nationally to extend abortion rights to all. The online panel takes place at 5 p.m. Monday, Jan. 24,
Jan. 22 is the 49th anniversary of the historic 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that decriminalized abortion. Roe is now on the chopping block after decades of rulings that have limited access to abortion. The Supreme Court is reviewing a Mississippi 15-week abortion ban case while it has once again on January 20, for the third time, allowed Texas's draconian 6-week abortion ban to stand, empowering vigilantes to enforce the ban. All are designed to roll back if not overturn Roe all together.
"Polls show that an overwhelming majority of Americans do not want Roe to be overturned," said Gina Rozman-Wendle, of Chicago for Abortion Rights, and President of Chicago NOW. "This national panel of reproductive rights leaders will give testimony on the horrors of illegal abortion before Roe, and what it is like in states today where abortion access is already extremely limited, especially for millions of poor, young, uninsured, and in Indigenous and communities of color." Panelists will discuss how we can mobilize to defend Roe and extend access to all.
Speakers will include:
Dr. Barbara Roberts, MD, a leader in the abortion rights movement for over 50 years.
Derenda Hancock, co-coordinator of Pinkhouse Defenders ("The Pinkhouse, aka Jackson Women's Health Organization, the target of the lawsuit to overturn Roe now before the Supreme Court.
Qudsiyyah Shariyf (she/they), Program Manager for Chicago Abortion Fund.
Kim Varela-Broxson (she/her), volunteer for National Network of Abortion Funds and member of Austin, Texas, Democratic Socialists of America.
Gina Rozman-Wendle, President of the Chicago National Organization for Women, will moderate the panel.
Joining co-hosts Chicago for Abortion Rights and Haymarket Books, are an array of co-sponsoring organizations: Chicago Abortion Fund,Chicago Feminist Action, Chicago NOW, The Clinic Vest Project, Gay Liberation Network, Illinois Choice Action Team, Illinois Single Payer Coalition, Physicians for a National Health Program-Illinois, Radical Women-U.S., Refuse Fascism-Chicago Chapter, Reproductive Transparency Now, Tempest (list in formation.)
Registration for the virtual online panel registration is at Eventbrite registration :
www.eventbrite.com/e/defend-roe-no-abortion-bans-defend-extend-abortion-access-tickets-241418397927 .
