Students Walk for Women’s Rights
C-SC students walked to support women’s rights in the case of Roe V. Wade.
Senior Taryn Hutcherson holding up a sign she made.
Despite gloomy weather, approximately 50 Culver-Stockton College students, faculty and staff students gathered outside the Idea Center May 6 to participate in the Walk for Women’s Rights. The marchers started at the Idea Center and ended in front of Herrick Foundation Center. These students walked to raise awareness and to protest the potential reversal of Roe V. Wade.
The Supreme Court’s draft to overturn Roe V. Wade was leaked May 2. Roe V. Wade was passed in 1973, ruling that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction. In April, Oklahoma outlawed all abortions indefinitely. If this leaked ruling becomes the majority opinion, the issue of abortion rights would go to the state level for most any level of restriction that the state legislatures could pass. States that have already passed a range of laws restricting access to abortion services would be free to fully enact its legislation.
“I attended the walk for every woman in my life,” junior Jordan Billingsley said. “For the women who know how to use their voice, and for the women who don’t. Their voices and their choices matter to me.”
Several of the participants carried signs that read “Mind your own uterus” and “Never again”, with a drawing of a coat hanger.
“This is not just a woman’s issue, this is a human rights issue,” said junior Sopheea Vomund. “If we let the government limit and control half the population, it will extend to controlling health care laws. This should matter to everyone.”
“It’s more than just pro-choice versus pro-life. It will affect every aspect of reproductive health for uterus owners,” senior Krista Barth said.
Barth uses the phrase “uterus-owners” in an effort to be gender inclusive and to acknowledge that not all women have a uterus and not all uterus owners are women.
The walk lasted about 20 minutes and at the end, graduate assistant Coral Dillie gave a short speech about the importance of voting.
“Educate yourself and vote. Please vote. This is your future and you should have a say,” Dillie said to the group.
If you’re not registered to vote, Dr. Katie Marney can help you register in the Carl Johann Memorial Library.
“Educating yourself on these topics allows you to carry out conversations, spread knowledge, vote, and make a difference,” Vomund said.
