The Women’s March organization held marches all over the country on Saturday, including one in downtown Santa Barbara, to protest a new Texas law restricting abortions.
Hundreds of Santa Barbara County residents — from high school and college students to local elected officials — met at De la Guerra Plaza ahead of the march.
World Dance for Humanity performed at the plaza to songs such as Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.” After some dance numbers, activists spokes to the crowd.
One of the indigenous organizers, Annette Cordero of the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation, welcomed the marchers. Cordero, joined by family members and others from the Coastal Band, performed a song and read a prayer.
“We’re here in solidarity because they’re trying to take control of us, and it’s not going to happen,” Cordero’s niece, Kelly, said. “It’s a colonial genocidal tactic that they’ve been pushing — or trying to push — for hundreds of years, and we’re here to say no.”
Other speakers included Central Coast Planned Parenthood CEO Jenna Tosh, state Sen. Monique Limón and former state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson.
Limón, later joined on stage by Assemblyman Steve Bennett, spoke about a woman in Texas who learned that her unborn child had been diagosed with anencephaly — a fatal condition in which the child is missing parts of the brain — but cannot get an abortion because of the new Texas law.
“This woman’s doctors don’t know what to do because this condition also puts the woman’s life at risk. This is what is at stake,” Limón said to the crowd. “We know for a fact that (restricting access to abortions) will not reduce abortions, that this will reduce safe abortions and require women to seek unsafe alternatives.”
Tosh then spoke at length about the legal status of abortions throughout the country.
“As we stand here today, abortion is effectively illegal in a U.S. state for the first time since 1973. In December, the Supreme Court will hear a direct attempt to overturn Roe v Wade,” Tosh said. “If they do overturn it, 26 states will likely ban abortion before the end of next year. These states are home to 36 million women of reproductive age and even more trans men and gender-nonconforming and nonbinary people who stand to lose their constitutional right to a safe and legal abortion.”
After her speech, Tosh and the crowd chanted, “Abortion rights are human rights” and “Bans off our bodies.”
Following Tosh, Jackson took the mic for a speech about the history of women advocating for reproductive rights.
“Before Jan. 22, 1973, we were here screaming for the right and the dignity of making our own reproductive decisions. It is now October 2021, and to quote a sign up there, ‘I can’t believe we’re still fighting for this s***,’” Jackson said. “Back then — and there are a few of us old ladies here, you remember — we threatened to burn our bras. The young women today are using big four-letter words, and that’s mainstream and I’m all with you ladies.”
Jackson continued to speak about using civic engagement as a tool against lawmakers, judges, justices and other government representatives who advocate on behalf of reproductive restrictions.
“We talk about human rights, we talk about basic human dignity; we as women and a few good men need to do what this shirt says,” Jackson said, looking down at the text on her shirt that read, “Well-behaved women rarely make history.” “And so, we’ve got to take back that court, we’ve got to elect our people … that will stand with us.”
“Today is a gathering where we are seeing women in the hundreds and hundreds, probably thousands — and men and allies — who are here supporting the right for women to make choices about reproductive health,” Limón said in an interview with Noozhawk. “While we have made progress, that progress is at risk.”
Marchers headed along State Street chanting with their signs until they reached Anapamu Street, near the Santa Barbara County Administration Building.
At the end of the march, Franklin’s “Respect” played once again — this time, the crowd joined World Dance for Humanity in dancing to the classic song.
About 60 people gathered in Santa Maria for a similar event, with speeches at City Hall and then a march to protest recent laws in other states targeting abortion rights.
“Make no mistake: This is about a nationwide campaign to block access to abortion state by state,” said Lata Murti, who emceed the event in Santa Maria. “We are rising up again today before the Supreme Court reconvenes on Monday to tell them loud and clear that abortion rights and reproductive freedom must be protected.”
Third District Supervisor Joan Hartmann said measures restricting abortions will impact poor women who can’t fly to New York or California.
“This is about reproductive justice,” she said.
Luz Reyes-Martin, vice president of community engagement for the Central Coast Planned Parenthood, said people need to act by calling lawmakers and voting in elections.
“Keep showing up, keep being loud,” she said, “and together we’ll fight back because we’re definitely not going back.”
— Noozhawk reporter Janene Scully contributed to this report.
— Atmika Iyer is a Noozhawk contributing writer and county news editor for the UCSB Daily Nexus.