'Handmaids' Protest Planned At Rep. Smith's Office In Freehold

FREEHOLD, NJ — If you're driving past the Raintree Shopping Center in Freehold on Wednesday afternoon, chanced are you will see a group of oddly dressed women gathered there.

They're not movie extras or some strange organization, however. A group of women are planning to dress as handmaids from "A Handmaid's Tale" to protest outside the office of Rep. Chris Smith, whose 4th District covers parts of Monmouth and Ocean counties.

"The District 4 Coalition for Change in support of women's group UltraViolet will rally outside NJ District 4 Congressman Chris Smith’s office," the group said in a news release, to demand "Smith stop writing and supporting anti-woman legislation."

Smith has repeatedly stated his anti-abortion stance and has helped sponsor bills to remove all funding from Planned Parenthood and make all abortions illegal.

"A Handmaid's Tale" is a dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood published in 1985 where a totalitarian and theocratic state that has replaced the United States of America and most women are stripped of all rights and serve only to bear children for elite couples, as Spark Notes describes. The book has been turned into a Hulu series.

“Imagine a society where women are denied reproductive rights, are collectively mistrusted, and cannot make choices about their bodies, careers, finances, and clothing,” said Robin Nowicki, local protest organizer. “The sexism and anti-women rhetoric and policy promoted by Congressman Chris Smith and the Trump presidency have begun to mirror this dystopian tale.”

"Women everywhere are going to keep resisting and persisting, and letting politicians everywhere know this sexism and anti-women rhetoric is not acceptable," she said.

The protest is set for 4 p.m. outside Smith’s office at 112 Village Center Dr. in the Raintree Shopping Center in Freehold.

Photo by Daniel X. O'Neil, via Flickr, under Creative Commons license