“Abortion saved my life,” she said. “I was in an abusive relationship, and if I was stuck with that man, I don’t know if he would have been here yet.”
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Singing “My Body, My Choice,” protesters gathered in front of the State Library before marching down Swanston, Bourke and Elizabeth streets.
Among them was Katie, 25, who had an abortion when she was 18. She said the decision to terminate the pregnancy was not easy, but that it helped her develop her own potential.
“The contraception she was taking failed. It happens, and she wasn’t ready to be a mother.”
“It was not an easy decision, and I did not take it lightly, but I do not regret it. It allowed me to finish my school, I went to university because I had an abortion ”.
Vaccine protesters converged on the demonstration as it made its way through the CBD. The antivax movement adopted the slogan “my body, my choice” during the pandemic.
Demonstrations in support of the election were also held in other Australian cities on Saturday, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, a 1973 case that claimed that for the past 49 years American women had the constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy.
Screaming passionately among the crowd was Natasha Sangiah, who had an abortion because she didn’t want to have a baby at that stage of her life.
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“It simply came to our notice then. It should be a daily decision that we should be able to make, ”he said.
Sangiah said he was afraid of the global ramifications of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, as speakers at the Melbourne rally warned the crowd that Australian anti-abortion advocates had been inspired by the news and they hoped to nullify the right to abortion here.
“We have to be vigilant,” said Victorian Socialist Deputy Secretary Liz Walsh.
“We have to be up front and show them that if they try anything, we will stop them.”
Western Australian Greens Senator Dorinda Cox said abortion was not yet decriminalized in her state and should be free, legal and accessible to all Australians.
“They’re our bodies and our damn choice,” he said.
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