About 30 people gathered to share an abortion-positive message.
Those in attendance of the Abortion Positive Rally held signs, gave speeches and chanted from the fifth floor of Baker Center: "We’ve got choices, yes we do, choose abortion, you do you.”
The student group Feminist Equality Movement, or FEM, with help from the national organization Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equality, held the event in Baker Center with about 30 participants Thursday.
“Our goal here today is not to start fights with anyone,” Alainna Marincic, a junior studying integrated media and a member of FEM, said. “It’s to embrace abortion access, to destigmatize the abortion narrative and to strengthen all advocates for reproductive justice and health.”
No abortion opponents appeared to be present at the event.
Patty Stokes, a women’s, gender and sexuality studies professor, spoke to the crowd on how people have performed abortions throughout history.
“We all need to stand up and demand safe abortion access,” Stokes said.
Body control is a “fundamental human right,” she said after the speech.
“If we don’t have it, women are going to be second-class citizens,” Stokes said.
Melissa Wales, a women's, gender and sexuality studies faculty member and executive director of United Campus Ministries, spoke about reproductive rights and religion at the event.
“UCM has been and remains fully committed to reproductive justice,” Wales said. “There are many faith communities which take strong pro-choice decisions. ... These organizations have a diversity of views about abortion and recognize it as a morally complex decision that has to be made by the person most affected, the pregnant person.”
Wales said after her speech that she came to give her voice as a leader in the faith community.
“Too often it is sort of framed that to be a religious or moral person you need to be anti-choice," Wales said. “That’s just not true.”
Reiya Bhat, a sophomore studying political science, spoke to the crowd after Wales about current abortion laws in Ohio and across the country, including counseling and waiting periods that can be required before someone goes through the procedure.
“These requirements put unnecessary burdens on people who are trying to complete one of the most common medical procedures in the country,” Bhat said. “The laws also make it seem as if abortions are unsafe, when in reality abortions have lower complication rates than colonoscopies.”
The last speaker was Cecilia Ellis, the president of Generation Action, an organization on campus that supports Planned Parenthood. Ellis spoke about when she went to the Ohio Statehouse with Generation Action when representatives voted to pass a bill defunding Planned Parenthood.
“They do not care about the facts,” Ellis said of politicians who voted for the bill.
Sasha Gough, a sophomore studying creative writing, was one student who attended the event.
“Abortion positivity needs to be a lot more prevalent in our culture,” Gough said. “I super stand behind it.”
Julie Warden, the communications coordinator of WV FREE, a women’s reproductive rights organization based out of West Virginia, said she came to show support.
“It was great," Warden said. "We were really pleased to see great turnout here for Ohio University and some really great people who were willing to speak out and show support for women in the state."
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Sarah Weingarten, a junior studying journalism and the president of FEM, said the event went well.
“We had a great turnout of students and other activists in Athens and our speakers were phenomenal,” Weingarten said. “They hit a ton of diverse topics.”
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