NEWBURGH – On Saturday, marches were held across the country in support of women’s reproductive rights and abortion access.
Speaking at the Albany Women’s March and Rally for Reproductive Rights, Governor Kathy Hochul reaffirmed New York’s commitment to upholding women’s rights and the need to continue the fight to protect these rights as other states work to limit them.
The governor, who was in Seneca Falls earlier Saturday morning explained the purpose of that trip. “Well, first of all, their rally was before yours. Okay. So that’s nothing personal here. I went there because I needed to channel the spirit of those brave, audacious women who 173 years ago demanded the rights to control their own bodies. They were tired of being the property of men. They stood up, they fought, and many of them did not live long enough to see the rights that they believed in and fought for in Seneca Falls at that gathering.
“But we are all beneficiaries of that because they had courage and stood up. And I think of that when I’m seeing all of you here today. The fight that was a fight when my mother was in her 30s. A fight that was a fight when I was in my 30s myself and is still a fight today when my daughter, Katie, is in her 30s. I’m sick and tired of having to fight over abortion rights. It’s settled law in the nation and you are not taking that right away from us, not now, not ever.”
Hochul vowed to protect those rights saying, “I will make that torch glow even brighter before I pass it on to the next generation and together we’ll send a message across this nation – you come to New York, we’ll protect your abortion rights every single day of the week.”
Other rallies took place in Kingston, Newburgh and throughout the Hudson Valley.
“This is not our first women’s march, we have been doing this since 1973,” said Michelle McKeon at the Newburgh rally.
Gathering at the corner of Broadway and 9W near the courthouse, several speakers would address dozens of supporters, prior to marching down Broadway in solidarity.
Most speakers would echo, “It is our bodies.” “It is our choice.” “It is our right to decide what we want.” “It is nobody else’s choice.”
Some addressed the new law in Texas. “This is a time when Texas has set a very dangerous precedence. They are putting us back in the 1600’s. We cannot go back, we have to go forward. Roe v. Wade is the floor we stand on and the ceiling is unlimited.”
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