The Women’s March and the Importance of Voting Pro-Choice

This Saturday, October 2nd, the Women’s March is back. Typically, these marches have been held in January, but the organizers decided that with all the anti-choice legislation recently passed in states like Texas and with more in the works, they must make a stand.

October 2nd was chosen because the Supreme Court reconvenes October 4th, and will be hearing an abortion case from Mississippi, Dobbs v, Jackson Women’s Health Organization, that will test if all state laws that ban pre-viability abortions are unconstitutional. The Supreme Court will hear this case on December 1st. 

As recently as the beginning of September, the Supreme Court has shown its willingness to ignore or overturn Roe v Wade, with the refusal to block the Texas abortion ban. 

120+ organizations across the country have partnered with Women’s March, including National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, Planned Parenthood, SHERO Mississippi, Mississippi in Action, Access Reproductive Care-Southeast, The Frontline, Working Families Party, and SisterSong. This march is being called the Rally for Abortion Justice.

Organizers have said not to bring coat-hanger imagery or anything Handmaid’s Tale-themed. 

Rideshare2Vote organizers will be attending marches across the country. At Rideshare2Vote, we believe that the right to choose is fundamental. We also know that these laws would not have been passed with blue legislatures and that we must work to elect Democrats to state legislatures to combat the passage of these bills. With increasing partisan gerrymandering, this is becoming more difficult, but no less important. We must fight to have fair maps, which allow us to elect a representative government, as most Americans support leaving Roe v Wade alone and overwhelmingly oppose the Texas ban’s enforcement through private citizens and especially of the bounty.

This November, many states are having municipal elections, and Virginia has a gubernatorial election. The Republican nominee, Glenn Youngkin, is endorsed by a pro-life PAC and has said he would support a pre-viability abortion ban. His governorship would be devastating to Virginia. We must make a stand against these abortion bans. So join a march near you, attend a virtual event, and be sure to vote this November and next year.

by Betsy Zalinski