Reproductive rights activists celebrate 4 years of resistance and honor the lives lost to abortion bans
Milwaukee, WI – On Saturday, June 27 Reproductive Justice Action-Milwaukee (RJAM) commemorated four years of resistance after the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade. Community members gathered for a rally, march and vigil to honor the ongoing resistance and mourn the lives lost due to abortion bans.
The event began with crafts, thank-you card writing for abortion providers, and tabling by various community organizations fighting for safe and sustainable communities. Representatives from Pro-Choice MKE, Milwaukee Anti-War Committee, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and ACLU of Wisconsin spoke to attendees about some of the issues that continue to face the reproductive justice movement in Milwaukee and beyond.
Some of the issues highlighted were the need for clinic escorts, safe access to abortion providers, and the fight for liberation of women and LGBTQ folks through a working class revolution. Andrea Waters from Freedom Road Socialist Organization shared, “We must fight for the liberation of women and LGBTQ people. This includes abortion access. This includes fair wages. This includes childcare for working parents.”
To close the event, organizers and community members marched on city hall for a vigil to honor the lives lost due to abortion bans. These deaths were not inevitable, but the result of politicians choosing ideology over evidence-based healthcare.
The vigil honored the following lives that were taken: Josseli Barnica, 28, Texas. Yeniifer Alvarez-Estrada Glick, 27, Texas. Amber Nicole Thurman, 28, Georgia. Candi Miller, 41, Georgia. Porsha Ngumezi, 35, Texas. Nevaeh Crain, 18, Texas. Taysha Wilkinson-Sowbyeski, 26, Indiana. Ciji Graham, 34, North Carolina. Tierra Walker, 37, Texas. Adrianna Smith, 30, Georgia.
Carly Klein, a founding member of Reproductive Justice Action- Milwaukee, stated, “Reproductive Justice Action Milwaukee formed four years ago in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision, with the support of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and Freedom Road Socialist Organization.”
Klein continued, “When the Supreme Court stripped us of our bodily autonomy and Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion ban was immediately reinstated, we knew that voting alone would not win back our rights. We knew it would take direct, sustained, organized action, and that is what we did.” The crowd cheered as she proclaimed, “In September 2023, abortion services resumed in the state of Wisconsin.”
RJAM understands and organizes around the fact that abortion access is not equitable. Carly went on to share. “Across this country, abortion bans have disproportionately harmed Black, brown, indigenous and working-class communities, Here in Wisconsin, Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women.”
To build safe and sustainable communities for all, we must work together to address these issues and bans.
As Reproductive Justice Action- Milwaukee celebrates their four years of resistance, they continue to fight for the liberation of women and LGBTQ folks by calling for an end to crisis pregnancy centers and the immediate restoration of gender-affirming care at Children’s Wisconsin. No rest while there is no Roe, and no rest until everyone has safe, affordable and equitable access to abortion.