Thousands descended onto the front steps of the Tarrant County Courthouse on Oct. 2nd, 2021, to advocate for reproductive justice in America. Fort Worth and cities across all 50 states joined together to advocate against stricter abortion laws in support of a woman’s right to choose.
Joining the over 600 marches organized across the nation, organizers of the Fort Worth Woman’s March say there was an estimated attendance of at least 2,000 people.
Vicki Moore, an organizer, commented on the numbers saying, “Getting together and letting the elected officials know that we’re doing this, it’s easy to ignore a person or two – it’s hard to ignore 650 marches all over the country.”
In addition to this, demonstrators took to downtown with signs in favor of a woman’s right to seek an abortion. Signs read from ‘Vote him out’ and ‘No country for old men’ all differing in expletives but holding the same meaning of resistance to the current Texas governorship.
The shift of this year’s Woman’s March is in response to the Supreme Court rejecting an emergency request to block Texas’s latest abortion ban in SB 8. The introduction of laws such as this and like this is what abortion rights advocates say could be the signaling of the end for Roe v. Wade. “Simply put: We are witnessing the most dire threat to abortion access in our lifetime,” states a publication on the Woman’s March Organization’s website.
Additionally the march was led by featured guest speakers some of whom being some of Fort Worth’s most vocal political figures. Leaders like Texas House Rep. Nicole Collier, Fort Worth City Council Member Elizabeth Beck, and Tarrant County Democratic Party Chair Allison Campolo were some of the big names in attendance.
In addition Rep. Collier called the recent attacks on woman’s rights an attempt to control women. Challenging, “If it were about life then we would fix CPS. If it were about life then we would give the children who are with us today the resources they need to exceed. These laws are not about life but of control.”
“They [republicans] fear what they cannot control and they will not control us” the Texas Representative exclaimed from the steps of the Tarrrant County Courthouse.
Following Tarrant Democratic Party Chair Allison Campolo expressed that the people needed to take the march as a starting point and turn the energy into action. She goes on by saying “For this to mean anything we have to vote”.
She continues to sum up the call for action by stating “We need to let people know that we have a message for them. We have a message for all the people out there who want to draw us out of having a vote. We have a message for the people who want to take away our right to vote. And we especially have a a message for anyone trying to govern our bodies.”
The march was then led by police starting at the Tarrant County Courthouse to then march down south on Main and then to make a loop back to the courthouse. The march continued smoothly downtown with little resistance by pro-life groups.
In addition to all this Timber Creek students were even at attendance at the event. Senior LilliAnn Nunley saying “This is about the destruction of a basic human right.”
She continues on saying “For male politicians to be trying to take away my right to my body makes me scared for my future. I’m here today to show that I wont stand back and watch what woman before me fought so hard for be striped away by cowardly men.”
Although abortion seems like a taboo topic, it’s legalization is widely supported amongst Americans. With a Pew Research poll stating an overall 61% of Americans support abortion being legal. Rep. Collier coining this by saying “We are the majority”.
Even so, many demonstrators hope that the march and marches across the country will be the call for action Roe v. Wade needs to remain rule of the land. One demonstrator explains this saying “I absolutely believe it’s something that needs to happen in order to foster change.”