The following press release came from a group who felt they had to do something in response to the new Georgia abortion law, passed by the predominately Republican Georgia legislature and enthusiastically signed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. This is a peaceful protest by a group of disenfranchised citizens in a county heavily gerrymandered to produce conservative Republican legislators “representing” a county that is majority liberal and Democratic.
It is true that local Democrats allowed themselves (ourselves) to become complacent during the last election and lost two House seats previously won by Democrats. The Republicans who took their places provided the votes needed to pass the so-called “heartbeat” law that these citizens are protesting. Had we re-elected our Democratic legislators, this protest would not have been necessary at this time, but we didn’t, and it was.
Meanwhile, these folks have found a small way to remind us why abortion was legalized nationally back in 1974. As one of them wrote, “It feels good to DO SOMETHING.”
These are perilous times for our country, and of course it does feel good to do something, when so much is done to us by gerrymandered legislatures and our national government bought and sold by big, dark money and its president and its Senate and their court.
So, right on, citizens. The streets may be the only arena left for action, even if it is only symbolic.
Here it is, in their words.
“Overnight on Thursday a group of local women and men used chalk in several places around Athens and Oconee County to trace sprawled female figures next to a chalked image of a clothes hanger. The artwork was part of a pop-up campaign around town to protest, as one participant described the effort, ‘the dangerous and awful anti-abortion law in this state that takes women back to an era when they bled to death because safe forms of abortion were illegal.’
“The washable figures were also traced on the street in front of the homes (but not on their property) of local legislators who voted for the bill. While that might seem outrageous and dangerous to infringe on their private space, the group felt the very same thing could be said about the new law and its flagrant invasion of their privacy.
“The figures drawn are varied, just as the stories and ages of women seeking abortions are diverse and personal.
“The group tracing the crime scene silhouettes is part of a grassroots movement that sprang up in Athens to carry out a peaceful protest. Participants hope the figures paired with the clothes hanger will remind or inform people of a tragic past when thousands of women died when they resorted to wire hangers or back-alley abortions.
“An article in The Atlantic in 2015 cited research conducted at the University of Texas that estimated that, in Texas, where clinic closings have made obtaining an abortion very difficult, ‘between 100,000 and 240,000 Texas women between the ages of 18 and 49 have tried to end a pregnancy by themselves.’ Some of the methods used by women included getting punched in the stomach or taking Misoprostol, a drug used primarily for treating ulcers.
“The group drawing the figures is raising the specter of past deaths by wire hangers and other risky measures because they know that women will continue to seek abortions despite the ban.
“A 2015 article in The Guardian reported: ‘Before Roe v. Wade legalized abortion, thousands of women died attempting to end their pregnancies—most of whom were poor or women of color. (Ninety percent of the women who died in New York City due to illegal abortions, for example, were black or Latina.)’
“Participants felt it fitting to do this protest under the radar since that is how women find out about abortions in states where they are outlawed or sharply restricted. One person wrote: ‘We wanted to remind people that women will die if this cruel law is upheld. Georgia’s law and others in the country show the Republicans’ criminal disregard for women’s health and self-determination.’”
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