Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
- A Women's March in Salt Lake City focused on reproductive rights in light of the ongoing election.
- Protestors highlighted the impact of abortion restrictions on healthcare access and urged for unity beyond political divisions.
- Speakers included current candidates for state senate and governor, as well as community activists.
SALT LAKE CITY — A boisterous crowd, flanked by police escort, shut down State Street Saturday morning while they marched the steep one-and-a-half miles to the Capitol Building for a demonstration, part of a nationwide Women's March.
A major focus of the group, bundled against the brisk morning, was the reproductive rights of women. They were galvanized by the death of Josseli Barnica, who was reported by ProPublica on Wednesday to have suffered a fatal infection after doctors delayed the treatment of her miscarriage due to the Texas abortion ban.
"We're marching for our lives and the lives of our daughters, the lives of our daughters-in-law and the lives of our sisters and so forth and so on," Darlene McDonald, a speaker at the rally, told KSL.com.
"We are so much more alike than we are different," Taryn Hiatt said. "This shouldn't be anything that has to do with red or blue."
She wants leaders voted into office who share her beliefs.
"We pride ourselves in being one of the youngest states, and we also pride ourselves on being a state where a lot of babies are born," McDonald said. "This is not a Democratic or Republican issue if a woman is bleeding out from a miscarriage that she cannot be treated for ... That is a medical situation that should be handled by doctors — and doctors should not be constrained to act because they don't know if they're gonna get prosecuted."
Protestors came from various political parties but overwhelmingly supported Vice President Kamala Harris.
"As a black woman and a Republican, I know that advocating for women's rights does not mean abandoning my values," Nikki Walker told demonstrators gathered on the south steps at the Capitol building. "On the very contrary, it means embracing the fullness of who we are and fighting for our dignity ... we cannot allow political ideologies to dictate what happens to our bodies."
"As long as maternal mortality exists, abortion is health care," she said.
The magnitude of the opportunity to elect the nation's first female president was palpable. Harris is second-only to Hillary Clinton in being a major-party nominee for the highest executive office in the country, according to the Center for American Women and Politics.
Caroline Gleich, who would be the first female senator for Utah if elected, said, "When we look at who is at the highest level ... you still see an absence of women and we are trying to change that."
Gleich cited a Texas study that reveals 21% of OBGYN physicians "have thought about it or are planning to leave Texas" due to new restrictions. With Utah ranking 45 out of 51 in maternity care workforce, per capita, according to the Commonwealth Fund, Gleich said enforcing the Dobbs decision would "impact Utahns' ability to access lifesaving reproductive health care."
In June 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ruling there is no constitutional right to abortion. That decision prompted the enforcement of a so-called "trigger law" in Utah, banning nearly all abortions in the state.
We are so much more alike than we are different. This shouldn't be anything that has to do with red or blue.
–Taryn Hiatt
At the time of the ruling, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox spoke to his "friends on the left" at a press conference, saying, "If you believe that there is real life in there — autonomous life — if that was your belief, you would give it everything to fight for that life ... I believe that we all share some common beliefs that should help us understand the differences of opinion."
An injunction on the law was granted by District Court Judge Andrew Stone in July 2022, halting the enforcement of the abortion ban, after a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood argued the law violated the Utah Constitution. That injunction was extended in August and remains in place while the case is in litigation.
Rep. Brian King, the Democrat candidate for governor, said, speaking of pregnancy loss in his family, "I've been in the room when the doctor comes in and says — I know you're really excited about this ... but they're not going to survive."
"We were left with some gut-wrenching decisions and we made those decisions together," King said. "We have autonomy over the most personal, over the most consequential decisions in our lives — who we love, what we do in terms of when we start a family, what kind of decisions we make when terrible things happen in a pregnancy, we have to make really difficult choices about what life will be saved.
"Those are the kind of things that should be left up to women, they should be left up to families and that's what I'm here to advocate for."
As protestors climbed the massive slope to get to the capital from their starting place at Washington Square, some spectators leaned out of windows to clap while others drove by shouting their opposition to the signage. A chant repeated throughout the morning — we're not going back — cascaded down the lines of marchers.
Latrisha Fall said women voters in Utah are in a tough position.
"There's a lot of expectations, whether that's from culture, religion — there's a lot of expectations," she said. "They don't have it easy, but I do believe that, when issues are left to the voters here in Utah, we always vote for people to have rights."
For Olivia Jaramillo, a transgender woman, retired U.S. Air Force veteran and immigrant from central Mexico, the demonstration was not about who is right and wrong, it was about "winning hearts and minds."
"It's important that we do this because when we stop seeing people as problems to solve, we start building bridges to understanding empathy, unity," Jaramillo said. "Together we're creating a legacy of equality and unity that will resonate far beyond just what we're doing today."
