Abortion Rights Supporters Rally In Beverly

CHICAGO — An abortion rights rally in Beverly drew anger, defiance and unity as more than 100 residents gathered at 103rd Street and Western Avenue, before walking to Beverly Park for speeches and comments. The rally was one of hundreds that took place Saturday in communities large and small across the United States.

The “Bans Off Our Bodies Day of Action” in Beverly was organized by Southsiders For Peace, the Coalition for Change Illinois, and Progressives of South Cook County in response to a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion which would overturn the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, and would effectively strip abortion of constitution protections in all 50 states.

Cars and trucks passing through the intersection blasted their horns in support of the protesters, waving signs that read “mind your own uterus” and “vaginas brought you into the world and we will vote you out.” If car horns could vote, most of the response from passers-by was overwhelmingly positive.

“This was our largest turnout yet,” said Bill Beaulieu, a member of Southsiders for Peace and one of the rally organizers. “A young guy driving a pickup screamed out ‘baby killer,’ and another older guy driving a Marquis or possibly a Cadillac gave us the finger.”

The rally also drew candidates vying for Democratic nomination in the June 28 primaries for IL-01 and IL-06 Congressional Districts.

“As we all know, it’s not just about the right to choose, this is about everybody’s right to choose,” U.S. Rep. Marie Newman said, who is trying to reclaim the Democratic nomination in the newly remapped 6th Illinois Congressional District. “I cannot tell you how critically important it is to watch this slippery slope.”

“We could lose the right to choose, the right to quality health care for women including abortion care, and we’re very clearly going to because this [leaked] opinion was verified,” Newman added, who is on the record as supporting a woman's right to bodily autonomy. “They’ve already teed up bills that would take away the pill, IUDs and other forms of reproductive care.”

Karin Norington-Reaves, the former CEO of Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, and one of 17 Democrats vying for the retiring Bobby Rush’s IL-01 seat in the upcoming primary, said economic development is rooted in work force development.

“If we have jobs and access to quality jobs, we have access to quality health care,” Norington-Reaves said, the Rush-endorsed candidate. “We get to make the decisions about what happens to our bodies and we have the money to make the choice when we want to raise a family, and we have the means of supporting a family.”

Linda Tart, 74, of Lawndale, said she almost died twice as a young woman from two illegal abortions in the early 1960s.

“I almost bled to death at Mt. Sinai Hospital,” Tart told the crowd. “Every time I see this, I know what you’re talking about and how important it is, but I lived it.”

She had her first child at age 15, who next year will turn 60. Two illegal abortions after her child, including one she tried to give herself with a coat hanger, landed her in the hospital. With the support of her community, she was able to get a job and an apartment to raise her children. Eventually, she earned her bachelor's and master’s degrees, to become a CPS educator.

“There was no birth control or abortion by demand,” Tart said. “I say keep doing what you’re doing because it was a very hard struggle.”

Twenty-six states are certain or likely to ban abortion if Roe v. Wade gets overturned, including 13 states that already have trigger laws in place.

“Marching is fine, but if you don’t vote, you don’t have a voice,” Beaulieu said after the rally. “Young people will especially be affected.”