CLEVELAND — Two separate rallies, the 2023 Women's March and the 2023 Cleveland March for Life, were held downtown Saturday, seeing demonstrators on both sides of the abortion argument gather to share their messages.
Dozens gathered for the Cleveland March to Life event, celebrating the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe V. Wade last summer and looking to support legislation in Ohio that would implement the "heartbeat" ban, effectively prohibiting most abortions after six weeks.
"Every year we gather to commemorate the horrendous decision of Roe v. Wade which came down by the Supreme Court in 1973 and although it was overturned by the Supreme Court last year, we march every year to commemorate the more than 63 million babies who have been slaughtered since 1973," said Kate Makra, executive director Cleveland Right to Life.
She and others led demonstrators on a march in Cleveland to support the side of pro-life, carrying signs and voicing their stance to passers by.
On the other side of the coin, the 2023 Women's March also took place Saturday. It was the sixth annual event and aimed to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Roe V. Wade.
Demonstrators there, also carry8ing signs and wearing messages on their clothing, voiced their stance of pro choice.
"I’m out here because the overturning of Roe V. Wade last June which was established law upheld by the Supreme Court for nearly 50 years. Despite the multiple attempts to overturn it before, it was always deemed the woman's right to choose for her reproductive health, especially in the case of rape, incest or child molestation," said demonstrator Marian McCarthy Eisenhut. "That has to be safe and legal for women to be able to access that so that their lives and health are not at risk."
Demonstrator Leslie Baus said she was out for the march fighting for young women because "if we don’t fight for it we’re going to find ourselves in the Handmaid’s Tale, it's going to be real."
The two marches, while opposing, centered around the same issue, looking to move the decision on abortion in Ohio closer to their values, whichever side they found themselves on.
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