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Reproductive Justice March in State College focuses on access to abortion following Roe reversal

Paul Takac helped organize and spoke during the Second Annual Reproductive Justice Rally on Saturday.
photo by Katie Knol
/
WPSU
Paul Takac helped organize and spoke during the Second Annual Reproductive Justice Rally on Saturday.

About 50 demonstrators chanted and held signs at the Allen Street Gates in support of women's reproductive rights.

A group registered voters, and a counter-protester held a sign nearby.

Among those at the rally was a 75-year-old woman who wanted to remain anonymous. She had a button on her jacket with a coat hanger and the words "never again." She says she’s worried the country is going back to the days when dangerous abortions were common.

"I've been living this fight my whole life in that my high school girlfriend was raped on her first date and had to carry her child to term and have it in secret at her aunt's house," she said. "And that a friend had to have a back-room abortion and nearly lost her life and that we need to make sure these situations don't ever happen to women again."

Before marching, speakers discussed the importance of voting in the upcoming elections. One sponsor of the march was Paul Takac, who’s running for state representative. He stressed the importance of getting Democrats elected to protect abortion rights. Since abortions are no longer protected at the federal level, abortion access in Pennsylvania could be determined by the gubernatorial race in November.

Katie Knol is a WPSU radio news intern for fall 2022.