Bucks Co. Women To Rally Saturday To Keep ‘Bans Off Our Bodies’

DOYLESTOWN, PA — Activists and residents from across Bucks County are set to rally Saturday afternoon in Doylestown to “rise up” for reproductive rights and send a “clear, unified message” to federal lawmakers and the U.S. Supreme Court.

The “Bans Off Our Bodies” rally is scheduled to run from 2-4 p.m. Saturday at the old Bucks County Courthouse, 55 E. Court St. About a dozen community groups and activist organizations from the area are partnering to mobilize Bucks County residents to defend reproductive rights.

Those groups include Youth4Unity, Rise Up Doylestown, NAACP Bucks County, Planned Parenthood Keystone, Bucks County Women’s Advocacy Coalition, The Rainbow Room, Bucks Liberation Coalition, Central Bucks YSDA, Indivisible Lambertville-New Hope and Indivisible Bucks County.

“Abortion has never been fully accessible, but we are at risk of losing our reproductive freedom completely,” organizers said in an event posting. “The call to action is clear and urgent. The relentless attacks from Texas to Mississippi to Pennsylvania are ramping up quickly.”

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Numerous similar protests are planned across the country for Saturday afternoon ahead of the Supreme Court reconvening for its new term Monday.

Texas has enacted a restrictive new law that bans abortions at about six weeks, before many women know they are pregnant. The law effectively ends Roe v. Wade protections in the state, NPR reports.

Mississippi laws ban nearly all abortions after 15 weeks, except when there are medical emergencies or several fetal abnormalities, CNN reports.

The Supreme Court has set precedents that prohibit states from banning abortion before fetal viability, which usually occurs between 22 and 24 weeks of pregnancy, the report states.

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Texas’ and Mississippi’s abortion bans do not provide exceptions in cases of rape or incest.

The U.S. Supreme Court in early September denied a request from Texas abortion providers to block the state’s new law barring abortion after six weeks.

Thousands of people filled the steps of the Pennsylvania Capitol on Monday to urge state lawmakers to pass more restrictive abortion laws, PennLive reports. Republican Pennsylvania lawmakers are working on several new anti-abortion bills, House Speaker Bryan Cutler said at the rally.

Pennsylvania law currently permits abortions up to 24 weeks for any reason except to select a gender.

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The “Bans Off Our Bodies” rally Saturday in Doylestown will coincide with similar events across the state country, including an abortion rights rally and march at the Pennsylvania Capitol, the report states.

“Anti-choice extremists have a deep desire to return to a time when there was more clear and effective domination and control over queer and trans folks, women and people of color; they want to revive those oppressive values and societal norms to the point of re-acceptance,” Bucks County rally organizers said. “The authoritarian agenda of reproductive control is fueled by misogyny and racism — and we must challenge it, together.”

Bucks County organizers said the event will follow strict coronavirus-related protocols and are “strongly” encouraging everyone to wear a mask and maintain social distancing.