Vol. 80/No. 17      May 2, 2016

 

Nebraska: ‘We called our own action to support abortion rights’

 
LINCOLN, Neb. — “Women should be allowed to have control over their own bodies instead of being the property of the government and the churches,” said Chris Steffen, 55, a factory worker speaking at an April 1 forum held at the Indigo Bridge Book store here. The event was organized to build support for an April 9 rally in defense of abortion rights.

Lincoln High School student Alexandria Smith told the forum, “We decided to call our own action to support a woman’s right to choose abortion” after she and fellow students took part in a Jan. 30 counterprotest at an anti-abortion “walk for life” at the state Capitol.

On April 9, Smith and her classmates led the march with signs and chants through downtown Lincoln and back to the Capitol grounds. Some 50 people attended, the majority in their teens or early 20s.

“This is the first pro-choice rally in at least a couple of decades” that isn’t just a reaction to anti-woman demonstrations, said Jackson Meredith, 31, a University of Nebraska cafeteria worker who has helped organize counterprotests against anti-abortion actions since 2002.

“We will meet soon and discuss what we should do next to build broader support for women’s rights,” said Smith.  
 
 
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