Tenth Moral Monday targets abortion bill

UNC nursing professor Deborah Mayer sported a bright pink sign emblazoned with a coat hanger — a gruesome symbol of restrictions that wrenched pre-Roe v. Wade abortion policy.

Her vest, an artifact of women’s rights protests more than two decades ago, bore the signature of Jane Roe, the plaintiff in the case — but Mayer said she never thought she’d wear it in protest again.

Mayer, an associate professor in UNC’s School of Nursing, held just one sign in a wave of pink ones at Monday’s Moral Monday protest at the N.C. General Assembly, the 10th of its kind so far.

More than 2,000 people flooded Halifax Mall for the weekly rally — part of a series that began in late April on Jones Street with a few dozen signs and now includes a main stage and an extensive lineup of speakers.

Monday’s demonstration was drenched in pink, condemning the Senate’s quick passing of the Family, Faith and Freedom Protection Act just before the July 4 holiday last week, which nestled tighter abortion restrictions into a Sharia law bill.

The bill is set to be discussed in a House of Representatives committee today. A vote on the legislation has not yet been scheduled.

“I’m a firm believer in women having control over their own bodies,” Mayer said. “I don’t want us to have to go back to the days I grew up with.”

Gov. Pat McCrory said at a press conference Monday he would not sign any bill into law that further restricted abortion, though he did not squash the idea of approving one that protected women’s health.

Amelia Freeman-Lynde, a Durham resident, said the abortion bill was a huge step back for protestors, drawing progress to a halt and dimming the mood of the protests’ 10th weekly anniversary.

“That was just a slap in the face to people who were trying to get involved (with the protests),” Freeman-Lynde said.

But Mayer said the swelling protests are a significant opportunity to make political progress, especially with respect to women’s rights.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you — then you win,” Mayer said, citing a Mahatma Gandhi quote.

“Well, we’re starting to fight.”

Another 64 people were arrested for civil disobedience inside the legislative building later in the evening, bringing the total to more than 700 over the 10 protests.

Carolyn Worthing, a retired physical therapist from Chapel Hill, held a sign saying “Remember in November” — but the General Assembly’s policies loom over a more distant future than the November election next year, she said.

“I’m 77,” Worthing said. “I hate to think what my grandchildren are facing.”

The Moral Mondays have heightened awareness of the disconnect wedged between protestors and legislators, Freeman-Lynde said — a gap that she said places burdens on low-income citizens.

Though political tensions ran high, with songs and shouts echoing throughout the halls of the legislature, protestors’ reasons for coming reached beyond the ballot.

“I’m a single mom with an 11-year-old, and I’m here for her,” said Loyce Broughton, a Rutherford County Democrat whose sign read, “Women may have the memory of elephants, but we will vote like donkeys.”

“It’s important that she has a say over her own body,” Broughton said. “Education’s under attack, and that affects her, too.”

Protestors of all ages had something to say.

“The government’s not respecting teachers very nicely,” said 7-year-old Leona Stebbins, toting a hand-drawn sign that said “Be fair to teachers, kids need to learn.”

Voices joined from both sides of the classroom to protest education policy, some denouncing Gov. Pat McCrory’s January remark that referred to students as “butts in seats.”

“My students are people, not butts,” said Bridget Bell, an instructor at Vance-Granville Community College in Henderson.

“They deserve a lot more than what (McCrory) is giving them.”