R.I. abortion rights activists protest Roberts

PROVIDENCE - Chanting "Save Roe, Vote No," a handful of abortion rights activists rallied at Kennedy Plaza in protest of President George W. Bush's nomination of Judge John Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"We are here today because we believe in women's reproductive rights," said Meaghan Lamarre, Action Vice President of Rhode Island National Organization for Women (RI NOW). "We are here today because we recognize that those rights are under attack, and we are here today to fight back."

With the resignation last month of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Lamarre said, speaking through a bullhorn, "we are in a state of emergency when it comes to abortion rights."

She called on U.S. Sens. Jack Reed and Lincoln Chafee, whom she referred to as "Rhode Island's two pro-choice senators," to vote against Roberts when he comes to the Senate for confirmation.

"Rather than appoint a moderate Justice in the mold of Sandra Day O'Connor, President Bush chose to appoint a partisan extremist," Lamarre said, warning that Roberts would "overturn Roe and send us back to the days of dangerous back-alley abortions." Roe v. Wade is the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

One of the signs held briefly by a protester carried a drawing of a coathanger inside a red circle with a diagonal line through it, similar to a no-smoking sign.

The rally, held during the afternoon rush hour, was sponsored by the RI Chapter of the National Organization for Women and 2 to1: The Coalition to Preserve Choice.

"It's a scary time for pro-choice people," said Hilary Markoe, president of 2 to 1. "Roberts is bad news."

Markoe said that nationally, Rhode Island is considered "high risk" for outlawing abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned, "or so severely restricting it that it would be, in effect, unobtainable."

Another possibility, she said, is that "within 12 months, it would become a statewide legal battle, which is bad news, considering the Governor is anti-choice, the Senate is anti-choice and the House is anti-choice. If it becomes a legal battle in Rhode Island, pro-choice women are sure to lose."

If abortion were outlawed in Rhode Island, Markoe said, women in the state would be faced with an array of bad choices:

"They could try to do an abortion themselves, which could lead to death or permanent sterility; they could obtain an illegal abortion, a dangerous and potentially deadly choice; they could keep the unwanted child, which could lead to increased teenaged mothers, child abuse and poverty, or they could travel to get an abortion in a state where abortion wa still legal, which for many women is just unrealistic."

Jennifer Lawless, a candidate for Congress in the 2nd District, challenging pro-life incumbent James Langevin for the Democratic nomination, declared that, "the right to privacy is under the most ardent attack we have seen in decades." She asserted that Langevin, the only pro-life legislator in Rhode Island's Washington DC delegation, "voted against reproductive freedom 26 times.

After the rally, Lawless told The Times that "no one issue" should decide whether someone is qualified for a seat on the court, but that abortion rights should be one of those that is considered.

Lamarre agreed, saying Thursday's rally was called to highlight abortion rights but that Roberts' "record is scary in other areas," including the environment and civil rights.

"His record shows he is in the pocket of conservatives," Markoe said. "He said he wasn't a member of the Federalist Society (a conservative lawyer's group) but he was a member of the steering committee. So right from the get-go, he is a liar."

This article, written by Jim Baron, appeared on August 12, 2005, in the Pawtucket Times.