North Shore Democrats To Host Pro Choice Rally In Skokie After Leak

SKOKIE, IL — Four days after a leaked draft opinion of a Supreme Court ruling that would overturn Roe. V. Wade was made public, signaling a change in abortion rights for women across the country, a local group will host a Pro-Choice Rally on Saturday in Skokie.

The Winnetka-based New Trier Democrats will host the rally, which will be held from 11-12 p.m. on Saturday at Skokie Village Green.

The event will be co-sponsored by several other organizations including Niles Township Democrats United, the Democratic Party of Evanston, the 39th Ward Democrats, and 41st Ward Democrats.

In a statement sent out to area members after Monday night’s leak, which caused outrage among state leaders, including Gov. J.B. Pritzker, New Trier Democrats executive board member Patrick Hanley agreed with state leaders by saying that many people saw the overturning of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision coming.

“We suspected the consequences when the Republican Senate denied President Obama his nomination to the court; when a “moderate” Republican senator accepted the nomination of a deeply flawed judge who spoke in bad faith about his perspective on Roe; and when the Republican Senate rushed through the nomination of a far-right activist judge despite losing, badly, the presidential election weeks before. Intellectually, the writing was on the wall in December,” Hanley wrote.

Emotionally, we are devastated. We are devastated because we know that if Roe is overturned, as early as this summer, millions of lives and livelihoods will be placed in serious jeopardy. People will get hurt. People will die. Women’s liberties will be severely restricted.”

He said that while Democrats are outraged, the work to help preserve the rights of women and others must continue. On Tuesday, Pritzker said that Illinois will remain a place where women can come to have abortions performed and that it will remain a beacon of hope in a darkening world.

“Once again, the Democratic Party has inherited the mantle of personal freedom, decency, and human dignity,” Hanley wrote. “We fight for the freedom to go on a run in the park, without fearing for your life. We fight for the freedom to love whoever you choose to love. And we’ll fight for your freedom to make decisions about your body and your family in your own way, no matter who you are.”