Hours after the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Our Revolution Hillsborough led a pro-choice rally to voice their concerns on the decision.
The rally called “My Body is No Up for Discussion” brought 30-40 people from “all walks of life” to the intersection of Route 206 and Amwell Road in Hillsborough on June 24 to stand up for the women’s right to have an abortion if she chooses.
“The rally was amazing,” said Our Revolution Hillsborough (ORH) President Didier Jimenez. “It felt great to see many people of all different walks of life come out and express their views to help us support a human’s right to choose.”
Erin Norbury, who is an officer for ORH, said she hopes similar rallies, which were held around the country after the decision on June 24, will help inspire more change from the government on these issues.
“Bottom line, we need to codify Roe v. Wade,” Norbury said. “This decision shouldn’t be made by the Supreme Court. It should be made by a woman and her doctor.”
Roe v. Wade is a 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide, as well as overturn Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which upheld the right to have an abortion.
ORH’s pro-choice rally also touched on all ‘human rights’,” said Jimenez, who added that many human rights that Americans have could be affected by the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Among those are the rights to use contraceptives, gay marriage, bi-racial relationships and rights affecting minorities such African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans and immigrants.
“We’re regressing back to the 1950’s and pushing back on all the rights that women, minorities and immigrants have worked so hard to earn over the years,” Jimenez said.
ORH has shown its support of the LGBTQ+ community and all minority races over the last few years by running a handful of events and protests.
The grassroots organization held a Black Lives Matter protest in honor of George Floyd and a Solidarity March to support all minorities back in 2020.
Floyd, an African American man, died after Minneapolis Police Department Officer Derek Chauvin, a white man, knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes after pinning him to the ground during an arrest on May 25, 2020.
In April 2021, Chauvin was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for Floyd’s death and was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in state prison.
On June 25, ORH held its second annual Pride BBQ at Harold Docherty Memorial Park to support the LGBTQ+ community. The event was sponsored by the United Democratic Coalition of Hillsborough.
Jimenez and the rest of his fellow ORH members are encouraging people in the community and across the state to reach out to their local government officials and New Jersey state senators to help codify Roe v. Wade.
ORH has reached out to the Hillsborough Township Committee about unifying together on the matter and creating a platform to help folks in the Hillsborough community feel safer.
The two entities worked together back in March when ORH ran its “Hillsborough Stands with Ukraine Rally” that Mayor Shawn Lipani and former committeeman Steve Cohen attended.
Jimenez said that ORH has not gotten a response back yet from the Township Committee, but hopes to hear from the committee soon to talk about a plan of action.
“We need to have unity on this issue,” Jimenez said. “We will continue to work with the community and local officials to get on the right path to codifying Roe v. Wade. and protecting all human rights.”
