TEXARKANA - Northeast Texas members of Pro Choice with Heart will hold a rally Saturday at the downtown courthouse here to protest restrictive Texas abortion laws.
Jordan Marmolejo, a media coordinator for the group, said the protest will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in conjunction with the Women's March protest scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C.
"We just wanted to give women in the Texarkana area an opportunity to have their voices heard because abortion bans are extremely sexist. They're racist, they're classist," Marmolejo said, adding that people without exorbitant amounts of money and resources will be affected by abortion bans.
In May, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a measure that bars abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy and allows others to sue abortion providers. In an early September 5-4 shadow docket ruling on the case, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to not block the law.
Other states are now following suit on these sorts of bans, Marmolejo said. "It's horrible," she said, calling abortion "100% healthcare."
"Denying women that right is absolutely just monstrous, in my humble opinion," Marmolejo said.
Women's March has called for rallies Saturday in D.C. and elsewhere to support reproductive rights in response to the Texas abortion measure. Protests are planned by groups across Texas and in Arkansas, including Little Rock.
(On the Net: Facebook.com/ProChoicewithHeart.)