Street to show support for Planned Parenthood in the wake of the Colorado Springs shooting. Photo by Ann Schnabel.
Members of Feminists at Bradley and other community members gathered Wednesday at the intersection of Main Street and University Street to show solidarity for Planned Parenthood. The event was held as a response to the recent Colorado Springs shooting.
“The demonstration is modeled after and inspired by another solidarity event going on in Chicago [Wednesday] hosted by Support Legal Abortion,” FAB president Elizabeth Gum said. “We thought it important that Peoria also stand with Planned Parenthood and stand against abortion clinic terrorism.”
The demonstrators held up signs with messages like “Honk to preserve pro-choice” and “Keep Abortion Safe + Legal.”
“I feel that, especially in light of the shooting, women’s control over their bodies and their healthcare is under attack, and we are out here trying to reaffirm that women do in fact have control over their bodies,” political science and theatre arts double major Derek Yeghiazarian said.
FAB member Anjelica Velazquez emphasized the variety of roles Planned Parenthood fills beyond abortion.
“I come from a low income neighborhood, and I feel Planned Parenthood is vital to neighborhoods like mine and society as a whole,” Velazquez, a freshman English education major, said. “Planned Parenthood does a lot more than just abortions. It also helps out with counseling, adoptions, sex education and cancer screening.”
Members of Peorians also attended the solidarity event for Reproductive Health Care.
“Planned Parenthood needs our support because it is often misunderstood or misrepresented,” Cherly Hofbaur, a member of PRHC, said. “I’m thinking specifically of that fictitious video released a couple of months ago that depicted a supposed Planned Parenthood representative talking about the sale of baby parts.”
Some passing motorists shouted insults and profanities at the protestors, and Hofbaur said she encouraged a levelheaded response to critics of pro-choice.
“The best approach to those who don’t understand where we are coming from is to acknowledge what they’re saying and their right to believe what they want to believe in,” Hofbaur said. “Don’t engage in a negative exchange with the person. You don’t need to convince them, and they aren’t going to convince you.”
Hofbaur said she thought the demonstration was very important and was glad to see college students standing up for pro-choice despite the criticism they received.
“I grew up in a time when women didn’t have a choice and Roe vs. Wade was not the law of the land,” Hofbaur said. “The memories of friends who had illegal abortions haunt me, and I don’t want to return to that time. We need to move forward.”
