© 2024 WYPR
WYPR 88.1 FM Baltimore WYPF 88.1 FM Frederick WYPO 106.9 FM Ocean City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
WYPO 106.9 Eastern Shore is off the air due to routine tower work being done daily from 8a-5p. We hope to restore full broadcast days by 12/15. All streams are operational
Healthcare coverage from WYPR is made possible by support from GBMC HealthCare.

Baltimore rallies for Roe: “Abortion is healthcare”

Protestors in front of the Edward A. Garmatz U.S. District Courthouse on Tuesday. Credit: Sarah Y. Kim/WYPR
Protestors in front of the Edward A. Garmatz U.S. District Courthouse on Tuesday. Credit: Sarah Y. Kim/WYPR

Dozens of people in Baltimore rallied in front of the Edward A. Garmatz U.S. District Courthouse Tuesday night, protesting a leaked Supreme Court draft ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Chanting “my body, my choice,” they carried signs reading “BANS OFF OUR BODIES” and “Abortion is Health Care.” They also carried drawings of clothes hangers.

Lynn McCann, co-director of the Baltimore Abortion Fund, said the possibility that Roe will be overturned is “devastating,” but something that she and pro-choice activists have been preparing for for a long time.

“Abortion is normal. Abortion is healthcare. It is our right,” McCann said. “We will not stop fighting until we all are free.”

She said that Roe alone was already not enough, noting that while it legalized abortions, it did not make them accessible.

“Abortion bans are racist,” she said. “They target and disproportionately our communities of color, people who are working to make ends meet, queer people and people living at the intersections of those experiences. They are wrong and they are unjust.”

If Roe were to be overturned, abortions would still be legal in Maryland, which could make the state an abortion care destination.

But Denise Gilmore of Baltimore Women United noted that’s an option for a privileged few.

“We know that it's going to leave a ton of folks out, who just don't have access to…pick up and leave and travel to go to another state to get the necessary health care they need,” she said. “That’s what’s so scary.”

Gilmore urged people to continue mobilizing, saying it’s “important to show that we have numbers.”

“The women who had to organize before Roe had way fewer resources than we do now,” she said. “We’ve got to use those tools.”

Protestors were joined by state lawmakers including District 11 Sen. Shelly Hettleman and District 41 Del. Samuel Rosenberg. Hettleman urged people to register to vote and show up to the polls.

“Elections have consequences,” she said repeatedly.

Sarah Y. Kim is WYPR’s health and housing reporter. Kim is WYPR's Report for America corps member, and Anthony Brandon Fellow. Kim joined WYPR as a 2020-2021 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. Now in her second year as an RFA corps member, Kim is based in Baltimore City.