Women’s Marches and Caravans For Reproductive Rights Saturday In Pasadena, Across Nation

A number of local groups spearheaded by Planned Parenthood Pasadena will come together Saturday for a ‘Caravan for Choice’ from the Rose Bowl to City Hall, as part of a nationwide series of demonstrations against Texas’ near-total abortion ban.

The new law, which the U.S. Supreme Court allowed to go into effect last month, bars abortions once cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo, which typically occurs in a pregnancy’s sixth week.

”This is only going to force women who belong to lower socioeconomic groups to have to make horrible and antiquated ways of making choices about their own bodies.  These are incredibly personal choices and decisions that women must make,” said local organizer Rebecca Fleming.

“As a society, we need to stand up and join forces and make it known that this form of societal abuse against women must stop,” Fleming said.

Starting at 9:30 a.m. supporters will gather at the Rose Bowl Lot I (355 N Arroyo Blvd Pasadena) and then in cars and on bikes will make the trek to Pasadena City Hall to voice their themes that abortion is a form of healthcare and reproductive rights matter.

The parade will go through the streets of Pasadena with surprise entertainment along the way, organizers said.

Other similar events related to reproductive rights are planned around the country.

In downtown Los Angeles, organizers are expecting more than 20,000 people to participate Saturday in a reproductive rights march.

The Women’s March in Los Angeles will begin at 10 a.m. at Pershing Square and lead to City Hall, where Rep. Karen Bass, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda Solis and Supervisor Holly Mitchell are set to speak, along with actresses Alyssa Milano and Patricia and Rosanna Arquette.

Paxton Smith, the Texas student whose valedictorian speech went viral for speaking in opposition to Texas’ abortion law, is also set to speak.

Similar gatherings are scheduled in other parts of the Southland including:

• Long Beach at 10 a.m., with the group gathering at Deukmejian Courthouse and marching through downtown to Harvey Milk Park;

• West Hollywood, with the group gathering at 10 a.m. at West Hollywood Park;

• Irvine, with the group gathering at the corner of Alton Parkway and Culver Drive.

The Women’s March Foundation is holding its official march in Washington D.C., with more than 600 “sister marches” planned nationally.

The law — which does not provide exceptions for cases of rape or incest  —  allows private citizens to sue anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion after six weeks, including the clinic or a person who drives the woman to the clinic.

“When the Supreme Court rejected an emergency request to block Texas’s abortion ban, they effectively took the next step towards overturning Roe v. Wade. Simply put: We are witnessing the most dire threat to abortion access in our lifetime,” the Women’s March states on its website.

“That’s why we’re marching in every single state and in our nation’s capital Washington, DC — on Oct. 2 before the Supreme Court reconvenes. We need to send an unmistakable message about our fierce opposition to restricting abortion access and overturning Roe v. Wade before it’s too late.”

The Pasadena Caravan for Choice is sponsored by Caravan for Choice, in partnership with Planned Parenthood Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley, the Women’s March’s National call to rally for Abortion Justice, SMART, NAACP Pasadena Branch, YWCA Pasadena & Glendale, POP! Pasadena, NWPC-Pasadena and SGV chapters, Radio Jornalera, ACLU- Pasadena/Foothills, Plan C, Black Women for Wellness, Indivisible Alta-Pas, Swing Left-SGV, Active SGV, SGV LGBTQ Center, Rooted in Resistance, Peace Over Violence, Day One, Glendora HS Women’s Wellness, and All Saints Church.

More information and a complete list of events is available at womensmarch.com.