Rebecca Haynes keeps marching because...

One of my favorite quotes is by Martin Luther King Jr.

"Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way."

When I was 19, and thought I was pregnant, I could not legally find out if I were without parental permission. So I lied to a doctor and found out that I was, indeed, pregnant. Abortion was legal at the time in New York and California, but I chose not to do that. I was in college and later read the book, “Our Bodies, Ourselves,” presenting the then-radical idea that women should have control of their own bodies. I learned about Planned Parenthood’s willingness to help young people with birth control information and family planning. While I made the choice to keep my pregnancy, I came to feel very strongly that all women should have the right and access to the means to prevent pregnancy and to choose to continue or not continue a pregnancy. No one else will carry the pregnancy, go through labor and birth, or be responsible for the well-being of that potential child. I think all children should be “wanted” children. And I believe if a woman cannot control her reproduction, she cannot control her life.

Therefore, when then-candidate Trump was supported by many despite his behaviors of, and remarks about, assaulting and degrading women, I was alarmed. I could not and cannot understand why anyone would support a Presidential candidate who is proud of assaulting women. He also made attacking and defunding Planned Parenthood a part of his platform, I believe education and information are key to young people making informed decisions about their lives, and Trump’s efforts to damage Planned Parenthood will reduce the information and options available. Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, I saw many women without control over their reproduction giving birth year after year to more children than they could care for. I do not want to see a return to that time.

As I spent years in the work force, I also saw disparities in pay between the sexes, which continues to the present, and some jobs are denigrated and lower paid because women are their main workers. I don’t think our gender should assign us to second-class citizenship.

Because I have a daughter, I would like her future to be brighter, not dimmer. I can’t look away. That’s why I march.