The Party for Socialism and Liberation Dallas/ Fort Worth and representatives from the Women’s March movement held a pro-abortion rally and call-to-action walk on Saturday that began at Arlington City Hall.
The rally was organized to protest the Human Life Protection Act, often referred to as the Texas “trigger” law, which largely bans the abortion of unborn children in the state.
The 2021 law went into effect on August 25 of this year following the Dobbs decision by the United States Supreme Court, The Dallas Express reported.
The Human Life Protection Act criminalizes aborting an unborn child unless the mother is facing “a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy.” The law makes performing an abortion a felony punishable by up to life in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
The activists took to the streets to protest government restrictions. They were accompanied by their “security team,” people dressed in all-black clothing, wearing tactical gear, and sporting rifles.
The participants claimed that the abortion ban disproportionately affects people of color.
Trace Axt, a protester marching at the rally, told The Dallas Express, “I mean, it’s an attack on human rights for everybody, not just on everybody, but especially people of color.”
“We aren’t going to stop until our rights are restored and everybody gets access to safe and legal abortion,” she continued.
Michael Fanning, a leader for the Party for Socialism and Liberation DFW chapter, claimed in a conversation with The Dallas Express, “The maternal mortality rate in the U.S. is one of the highest in the ‘developed world,’ and it is much higher for black and brown people and black and brown kids. The racialized effectiveness of forced birth where there is no guarantee of healthcare is going to be absolutely devastating.”
According to data from the CDC, states where such numbers are kept recorded that nearly 180,000 black children were aborted in 2018. However, states such as California, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania do not keep track of how many abortions a performed on black mothers.
Another protester suggested that the number of children in the foster care system justified a pro-abortion stance.
“The fact that we have over 500,000 kids already in the foster care system is a big problem, considering that they get sexually assaulted and abused in the system; it’s a vicious cycle,” claimed Autumn Brown, a pro-abortion activist.
On the other side of the issue, anti-abortion supporters believe the act of abortion is wrong and morally reprehensible.
Kyleen Wright, the President of Texans for Life Coalition (TLC), told The Dallas Express, “I think it’s a really lousy thing to say is to tell women or to tell black people or any group of people that the best way we can help you is to eliminate the smaller and weaker among you and that the only way that you can get ahead financially and prosper is if we do this for you.”