A week has passed since the decision that changed this country forever, and a small American town is celebrating.
In Owensboro, Kentucky, home to 60,000 people, a group of about 200 people marched down the main street, past a donut shop and bourbon bar.
They are mostly women and they are furious that the constitutional right to choose to have an abortion is being taken away.
Together they chanted in collective outrage, “don’t let your rosary out of my ovary,” and “my body, my choice,” but among them were those who were motivated. by intense personal pain.
Hadley Duvall was 12 years old when she was fostered by her abusive stepfather, now serving 20 years in prison.
“The abuse goes on for a long time,” she said.
“I’m lucky because it’s only one pregnancy and I have a choice, and I feel like everyone in that situation should have a choice.”
Hadley, now 20, said she was heartbroken when the Supreme Court overturned a landmark 1973 ruling, known as Roe v Wade, that gave women across the country the right to choose to have an abortion.
“I was sick,” she said.
“My heart breaks for the little girl I used to be, and the other little girls that are still there, because it happened and it’s not just a fantasy.
“It’s not just something that happens in movies. It’s real.”
She says women should be given the right to choose what happens to their bodies in all circumstances, not just in particularly traumatic situations.
“We may not make a change this year,” she said, “but I know I will never hold my tongue again, no matter what, even if there is a change, I will still speak up for everyone.”
Hadley Duvall
In this vast country, a legal patchwork of yes and no abortion is taking shape.
In Kentucky, the option was taken away last Friday and is now available temporarily reinstated after a judge issues a lawful restraining order.
However, in a situation where the majority of adults believe that abortion is illegal in all or most cases, it is unlikely to last long.
Marjorie FitzGerald, who has worked at EMW – one of only two abortion clinics in Louisville – for six years, said the changes are especially tragic for poor women unable to travel to other states where abortions are done. is an option.
“The closest state to our patients will be Illinois and for many of these patients, they can’t take time off work, they have to pay for childcare and travel and sometimes have to wait.
“It means lack of a procedure or sometimes an attempt to solve their own problems.”
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But for some, Roe’s reversal has raised an opportunity.
On the same stretch of sidewalk near the EMW clinic is a similar-looking building called BsideU.
But this isn’t an abortion clinic, it’s a pregnancy resource center, one of 2,500 such facilities across the United States.
Many of them offer free ultrasounds and claim to provide information about alternatives to abortion. But experts accuse them of giving false or misleading information to force women to continue their pregnancy.
Some of the women undergoing treatment at BsideU were referred to a white shingle house in suburban Louisville, occupied by Lifehouse Maternity Home.
There are rocking chairs on the porch and a children’s playground in the back and they’ve had a 50% increase in visits in the past week.
It is run by Protestants and is funded by donations from churches and individuals.
Dolly Neikerk
Its CEO Dolli Neikerk gives a tour of the inside, which includes a Bible study room and an extensive children’s wardrobe. Dolli celebrates when he hears that Roe v Wade has been exposed.
“We’re not throwing beams of cells into the bathroom, we’re throwing showers for young children,” she said.
“I think deep down inside every woman knows that when she’s pregnant, she’s carrying a baby.
“We need to support her and help her navigate through becoming a parent or making an adoption decision.”
Dolli said Lifehouse Maternity Home has accepted pregnant girls and women ages 13 to 38.
I asked her if she was concerned that encouraging a 13-year-old to stay pregnant after being raped would further traumatize her.
“I can tell you from the experiences we’ve had here, in both situations those kids were adopted (to) loving families,” she said.
“And so, I think that gives that young mother the opportunity to make the decision that’s best for her and she’s been traumatized. So we shouldn’t add to that trauma.”
Lifehouse Midwifery in Kentucky
For Dolli and the women at the Owensboro march, it was hard to find any great union on an issue that caused such strong feelings for both sides.
Abortion in the US is completely polarizing and as such there will be no balance here, only uglier and deeper divisions.
