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After a leaked draft of a Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe V. Wade was released in early May, people around the country have been rallying in support of the nearly five-decade old decision. On a sunny and breezy Saturday afternoon, over 70 people gathered in Sargent Park in downtown Kodiak to rally in support of the Roe V. Wade decision enshrining the right to get an abortion.
For many of the attendees the issue was deeply personal, and for some, it was not the first time they had rallied in Kodiak in support of abortion rights. Lori Siebe has been a pro-abortion rights activist since the early 90s. She knows many people in attendance at the rally.
“Peggy Smith and I and a large number of the women here had a group called Kodiak Voices for Choice. We gathered, we had protests, we had speakers, we did education in the high schools, we were extremely active, because as now there was a huge threat to the woman’s choice then,” Siebe said.
Peggy Smith, one of the original members of Kodiak Voices for Choice, had an experience when she was younger that made her a dedicated advocate for abortion rights.
“I’ve helped a friend with illegal abortion- two young girls, we had to fly to New York City, it was illegal. So we go there, we, this man walks up, he goes, I’m the man you want to talk to. He took my girlfriend who was getting the abortion, and said I could not go. So I sat on the bench at United Airlines for four hours and waited, not knowing if she was going to die on the table,” Smith said.
Among the crowd are several girls in their teens carrying signs with pro-abortion rights slogans on them. Kailey Anderson is 17, and says that at her stage in life, her support for Roe V. Wade is a given.
“If I did get pregnant, I would want to get an abortion. Like, it wouldn’t even be a second thought like I am in no position to raise a child right now. So knowing that that option could be taken away from me and knowing that birth control could also be taken away from me next is horrifying,” Anderson said.
The rally lasted until about 2 p.m. Organizers say that there may be more events, especially if Roe V. Wade is overturned in the coming weeks.
The right to an abortion is enshrined in the state constitution of Alaska. Anti-abortion advocates are hoping to begin a constitutional convention in November, which could eliminate that right.