Pro-choice Rally In Redding

Press Release from Amy Wolfcale

Senator Richard Blumenthal joined First Selectpeople from Easton, Weston and Redding for a pro-choice women's rights rally timed to coincide with the Women's March in Washington and all around the country on Saturday, Oct. 2 to protect Roe v. Wade. The event, convened by State Rep. Anne Hughes and hosted by the Redding Roadhouse, drew a crowd of attendees from all three towns and beyond to support women's rights.

Senator Blumenthal addressed the crowd first, referencing his experience clerking for Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun the year after he wrote Roe.v Wade and the degree to which Roe has become an essential part of human rights law in the U.S. in the years since. Sen. Blumenthal told the crowd he'd written The Women's Healthcare Protection Act in response to serious threats to choice across the country.

"The protections in this measure are more necessary now than ever before in our history because an avalanche of restrictive, reprehensible state laws is drastically reducing fundamental health care rights. The Women's Health Protection Act seeks to strip away the deceptive pretext of safeguarding women's health when the goal of such state laws is actually to sabotage fundamental Constitutional rights, and increasingly they are achieving that goal."

Easton First Selectman David Bindelglass followed the senator, saying that, as a physician, he couldn't believe the current attempts to remove a woman's right to choose.

"As a physician who understands the absolute right every woman should have to make her own decisions about her own health care, I find it incredible that in 2021 we're not only still debating whether women should have the right to choose, but that today we find ourselves closer to actually overturning Roe than at almost any time in the past 50 years. As a doctor, I find it unbelievable that this is still an issue," he said.

Bindelglass cited the fact that 70% of Americans consistently say they oppose overturning Roe v. Wade, but that, as an elected official in a small town in America, he understands that opponents of choice are working hard to gain a footholds in local government, as happened in Texas, with the goal of sending anti-choice representatives to the state house, just as has happened in Texas.

" Today we see well-organized PACs funded by dark money working to spread division and misinformation right here in our local communities. They are working against democracy, against democratic values, and make no mistake: if they are successful, they will work against choice too. If they gain a foothold in our towns, they will be one step closer to unseating key state legislators like Anne Hughes who create a firewall in Connecticut. That firewall against national anti-choice activists ensures women here won't lose the rights women in Texas have lost."

First Selectwoman Samantha Nestor of Weston spoke of her growing anger in recent years as American courts and lawmakers have steadily chipped away at the rights of women and their doctors to make this intensely private decision, even as the people of her husband's home country, Ireland, have chosen to expand the rights of women by legalizing abortion.
"I hear sometimes that this has happened because we've become complacent. You all don't look complacent to me," Selectwoman Nestor said. "I think it’s the opposite. I think they know just how fierce we are and they're afraid. They stepped their game up. But we are fierce and we won’t let them win."

Nestor told the crowd, "Women’s rights are human rights. We all know it. We know that laws restricting access to healthcare, and abortion in particular, have a disprortionate impact in less privileged communities.

"Elections matter. This didn't happen overnight. This happened over decades; this is the fruit of millions of votes not cast - over the course of decades. Every single vote matters from the smallest local boards to the highest seat in the land, so don't sit a single one out. Register, show up, bring your friends and make yourselves known."

First Selectwoman Julia Pemberton of Redding reminded the crowd that voting is essential to roll back the tide of anti-choice legislation in communities all around the country. Citing attempts at the state and local level to restrict women's reproductive rights she said, "For all the young people here, register to vote and support women's reproductive rights. We are the real pro-life candidates because women's rights are human rights. "

State Rep. Anne Hughes, who organized the rally with the three towns she represents--Easton, Weston, and Redding--in CT.'s 135th district, issued a statement from Washington, where she was part of the national Women's March. Rep. Hughes was in Washington because her name was added to the list of 900 state representatives from all over the county joining the amicus brief in support of Roe v. Wade.

“We are here marching in DC, joining thousands in this fight for reproductive justice, for legal access to the full continuum of reproductive healthcare as a human right, rights that are STILL and once again under existential threat from the Supreme Court," said Rep. Hughes. "We must mobilize everyone to protect safe, legal access to healthcare, including abortion as a right. "

Rep. Hughes quoted one of the speakers in DC: "We'll fight 'until Hell freezes over, then we will fight on the ice!', " she said. " I am so proud to be joining our towns’ leaders and constituents across the district gathering in solidarity in Redding to make sure our voices are raised and represented in the Amicus brief of the Supreme Court case that will challenge Roe V Wade!”

This press release was produced by Amy Wolfcale. The views expressed here are the author's own.