It was an important afternoon for Megan Reid. From the G.R. Memorial Hospital to Reid Street, she and dozens of others marched in support of women’s right to choose on Thursday, June 30, nearly one week after the U.S. Supreme Court rescinded Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to abortion in the United States.
Reid organized the protest in Quesnel after a sleepless, emotional night a few days earlier.
“When I first heard that it was even going to be possibly happening, I was shocked,” she said of a leaked draft opinion suggesting the landmark decision, which had been in place in the United States since 1973, might be overturned.
“And when I found out, it was just sadness thinking of all the women that are no longer going to be able to have that opportunity to make that decision, and we’re letting men in power have control over our bodies and I just think that’s crazy.”
When Reid was seven months pregnant with her last son, she said she nearly died.
Reid noted birth control and condoms are not 100 per cent effective and that rape and sexual assault happen all the time.
Read More: US Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade; states can ban abortion
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While children can be put up for adoption, Reid maintains the foster care system is overworked, with many kids in need.
When driving in downtown Quesnel on Sunday, June 26, she and her husband saw some anti-abortion protesters on Front Street near G.R. Baker Memorial Hospital.
The small group could be spotted Wednesday afternoon carrying and holding signs which read “abortion kills children”, “adoption the loving option,” “abortion hurts women,” and “lord forgive us and our nation.”
“I”m totally okay with other people having different beliefs,” Reid said. “I just think that everybody has a right to choose, and a lot of those people are maybe an older generation, and they may want to make the decision, but what about their granddaughters? What about all the people that this is going to affect? Just because they don’t want to have an abortion doesn’t mean their great-great-granddaughters won’t want to.”
Before the pro-choice protest, Reid noted that some had commented why she cares about a matter south of the border.
She plans to organize another protest for women’s right to choose in the future.
“I hope people realize just because it hasn’t happened in Canada doesn’t mean it’s not worth fighting for.”
On Facebook, the Quesnel Women’s Resource Centre said it is available for any questions about pregnancy and abortion access without judgment.
Read More: What is the legal status of abortion in Canada and do we need a law? Experts weigh in
Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: rebecca.dyok@quesnelobserver.com
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