More than 300 people stood in front of the state Capitol on Saturday and listened to a series of speakers who urged them to raise their voices and vigorously show their support of the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion 47 years ago.
The 10th annual Rally for Reproductive Justice included an appearance from Dr. Joycelyn Elders, the former U.S. Surgeon General and former director of the Arkansas Department of Health.
Elders served as Surgeon General in 1993 and 1994, during the peak of AIDS awareness, and earned a reputation as a safe sex advocate. She joked that she had been referred to as the "condom queen" and told the audience she would always proudly wear that crown.
She said she was encouraged by the turnout among young people during Saturday's event. Elders was a featured speaker during the inaugural rally and told attendees she had to be encouraged by organizers with the Arkansas Coalition for Reproductive Justice to return and speak to the crowd again.
"I'm getting old," the 86-year-old said. "I'm getting tired and I'm ready to hand it off. I had hoped 20 years ago that I wouldn't have to stand here still pleading, still begging and still working to try and make a difference in fighting for reproductive rights."
Also among the speakers Saturday was State Rep. Nicole Clowney, D-Fayetteville, who said legislators have made moves that would "outlaw virtually every abortion" in Arkansas in the event Roe v. Wade gets overturned.
Laws passed during the 2019 legislative session included bans on abortions starting at 18 weeks of pregnancy and abortions based on prenatal Down syndrome detection. Another law also requires physicians performing abortions to be board-certified or certification-eligible obstetrician-gynecologists. Planned Parenthood and Little Rock Family Planning Services have urged the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis to keep in place a district judge's preliminary injunction blocking the laws from taking effect.
Read Sunday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.