© 2024 254 North Front Street, Suite 300, Wilmington, NC 28401 | 910.343.1640
News Classical 91.3 Wilmington 92.7 Wilmington 96.7 Southport
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE CLOSURE: UPDATES, RESOURCES, AND CONTEXT

Following draft Roe v. Wade decision, Women Organizing for Wilmington protest outside City Hall

Protestors gathered between Wilmington City Hall and the New Hanover County Courthouse on Tuesday.
Megan McDeavitt
/
WHQR
Protestors gathered between Wilmington City Hall and the New Hanover County Courthouse on Tuesday.

On Tuesday evening, the progressive advocacy group Women Organizing for Wilmington, or WOW, gathered at the New Hanover County courthouse in response to the leak of a U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion that would overturn Roe vs. Wade, the landmark case that help establish abortion rights.

WOW took to the courthouse to show their frustration, support each other, and share their stories. WOW organizer and speaker Lynn Shoemaker began the protest by noting that while no laws have been changed, she fears that they could.

“I personally and a lot of you have been fighting for choice, for a person’s right to choose my entire adult life — which is why I am exhausted. But I want to say, thankfully, our nonprofits, the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, NOW [National org. For Women], and NARAL [Pro-Choice America] et al. have been preparing for what’s next," she said.

She encouraged people to not only consider donating time or money to these organizations that help and protect people’s rights — but also to vote.

WHQR spoke with Roberta, a woman at the protest who asked that only her first name be used about her experience with abortion.

“In 1965, I was a college student. And I was pregnant, I got pregnant. And I couldn't go home. So my friends, we found a number we called around, to, we found the number, it was all underground. And I called and made an appointment to get an abortion," she said.

Roberta was living in New York City at the time and was told to take a bus to New Jersey. She couldn’t bring anyone with her, and ended up in a car, blindfolded, on the way to the procedure.

“So I don't know where we went. I know that the doctor was male, because he spoke to me. And they did the procedure. There was not any anesthesia or anything like that. So it hurt. When they finished they handed me a little brown envelope with pills, probably antibiotics that I could take, they gave me a number that if I had a problem, to call," she said.

Roberta told me that regardless of the trauma she went through, she was so grateful to be alive after that day. I asked Roberta how she felt after seeing the news about Roe vs. Wade.

“Well, we've been regressing for decades now. And I think that what it tells me is that we don't believe in health care for anybody. Because if women can't get reproductive rights and health care, then nobody can really get much of anything. It just shows how really desperately sick our health care is," said.

During her speech, Lynn Shoemaker said there is only one way to change legislation.

“Voting is important. So we can elect a [government] that looks like us. We have to make primary elections just as important as general elections. That’s where you choose your candidates. You have to make school board candidates as important as presidential candidates.”

After the protest, people marched to a local art gallery and wine bar, Bottega, to learn about local candidates, as well as organizations and companies that they can get involved with if they wanted to take a more boots-on-the-ground approach.

Megan McDeavitt is a filmmaker from Boone, NC. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Filmmaking at UNCW, and her AAS in Marine Technology at CFCC. She's worked in local journalism throughout North Carolina before returning to school, where she focuses on strengthening her creative storytelling and looking at environmental issues within the community.