Close to a hundred protesters gathered at the Five Corners intersection on Saturday in Vineyard Haven expressing their disapproval of the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe V. Wade, as a steady stream of cars honked their support.
“It’s about sovereignty over our own lives,” Oak Bluffs resident Kim Hillard said. “It’s the first time the Supreme Court has taken away our rights as opposed to expanding them.”
In the landmark decision on Friday, the court voted 6-3 to reverse a woman’s federally guaranteed right to an abortion, a settled law since 1973. Demonstrations erupted nationwide immediately following the decision.
The Vineyard protest was organized by Graysen Kirk. A rising senior at the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School, Ms. Kirk found herself inspired to act as soon as she heard news of the decision. She spent Friday afternoon making a flyer, before sharing it via email, text and social media channels.
“I thought coming together could bring us all some hope,” Ms. Kirk said.
Specifically citing the murder of George Floyd and the racial equality protests that followed, Ms. Kirk said she believes that it is the duty of everyone to act when they encounter injustice.
“When I saw the decision, what came first was shock and anger, I felt kind of hopeless,” Ms. Kirk said. “But then I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to exercise our first amendment rights and [show] the power of the people.”
Cars driving by honked in support.
— Ray Ewing
The protest followed a similar demonstration at Edgartown town hall in May, where Island residents protested a leaked draft signaling the court’s intention to overturn Roe V. Wade.
Many of the protesters arrived at Saturday’s demonstration with the same homemade signs they had used at the Edgartown event, displaying slogans such as ‘Her Body, Her Choice’ and ‘Mind Your Own Uterus.’
Pat Ingalls, a former administrator at the Vineyard public schools, said she was shocked by the decision to overturn something she had lived with most of her life.
“We had the right [to choose] in the 70’s and 80’s. And now, thanks to this decision, my daughter and granddaughter won’t,” Ms. Ingalls said. “We are so going backward.”
At the multi-generational demonstration, standing up for young women was a common theme.
“I’m a woman with daughters and granddaughters,” Tisbury resident Liz Toomey said. “All of our civil rights are at stake right now.”
