Videos taken on June 30 in downtown Tulsa by Jacob Factor
Published on July 1, 2022 in the Tulsa World
A pro-choice march and rally, organized on Instagram by a 17-year-old girl, drew a flood of hundreds of Tulsans to downtown Tulsa on Thursday to demand change and access to reproductive health care after the fall of Roe v. Wade.
The crowd was the largest yet of recent pro-choice protests in Tulsa that first began after the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion in April signaling an end to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
More than 400 people gathered first in front of the BOK Center, and then the crowd, led by the 17-year-old organizer — who wished not to be named for her safety — marched around downtown chanting “keep your hands off our bodies,” “separate church and state” and “my body, my choice” before rallying at the Tulsa County Courthouse.
“At first I was concerned as a woman, but once I starting looking more into it, I realized how much it affects every single person, especially people of color,” the organizer said, describing what inspired her to plan the march. “I’ve been organizing protests for a while, but I’m used to seeing 20 to 30 people at them. This is mind-blowing.”
The protesters flooded into the courthouse plaza, carrying signs and chanting, after walking along the downtown streets.
One sign carried by a teenage girl read, “I march because someone long ago marched for me,” while signs carried by men in the crowd said, “Her body, her choice.”
Donning her clinic escort vest, Ruby Taylor, a Tulsa Women’s Clinic escort before Oklahoma banned abortions, said she was inspired to see the number of Tulsans who came out to call for reproductive rights.
“To see these numbers is outstanding,” Taylor said. “It gives me hope that we can actually do something about this decision. It’s really nice to see Tulsa showing up for women and people who can give birth.”
When Gov. Kevin Stitt signed the state’s near-total abortion ban in May, he said “the majority of Oklahomans believe” that life begins at conception. Taylor said that while a lot of people in Oklahoma don’t want women to have bodily autonomy, she and the many people at the march are also here and aren’t backing down.
“This,” she said, motioning to the crowd of protesters cheering at honking cars — “the people coming out of the woodwork, showing out and showing those kinds of people that we will fight for these human rights.”
Pregnant people like the women who filled the waiting room of the once-crowded Tulsa Women’s Clinic are still out there, Taylor said, adding that it’s horrifying to think about what they’re going through right now.
“When the Texas (abortion ban) law was first put in place, we got an influx of people coming up from Texas,” Taylor said. “The waiting room was so full — we had people sitting on the floor. As soon as May came around, though, the waiting rooms have been completely empty.
“It’s really hard because we know those women are out there. They still need services, but they’re not able to get them. It’s heartbreaking.”
Throughout the march and at the rally, a small group of counterprotesters holding Bibles and signs that said “murderer” followed the crowd, but their “God will judge you” speeches were repeatedly interrupted by abortion-rights protesters yelling back at them.
At one point during the rally, the abortion-rights protesters chanted, “We are the majority,” and the anti-abortion protesters yelled back, “The majority is going to hell.”
Another anti-abortion protester appeared to be overwhelmed by the crowd yelling at him, “Rape and incest is not God’s will,” and the man left.
When Roe v. Wade was overturned, racial justice organizations sounded the alarm that the decision will disproportionately affect people of color by restricting access to abortion and potentially prosecuting them for their pregnancy outcomes, the Washington Post reported.
Shadow Hardbarger, a Cherokee and Crow woman, is most afraid of those possibilities.
In a traditional ribbon skirt and holding a sign that said “my choice” in Cherokee, Hardbarger said it is important to keep the voices of women of color in conversations about reproductive rights.
“It’s a scary time, and it’s an angry time,” she said. “As long as I’ve known about my people’s history, the government has always tried to control us. This is another way they are trying to control us, because they know there will always be state governors who won’t allow (abortion access).”
Indigenous American communities have always been matriarchal, Hardbarger said, so Indigenous women’s voices hold power.
With the way the world looks to her right now, Hardbarger said, it’s encouraging to see people of all races, genders and ages coming together in Tulsa to support their rights.
“Hearing all these voices when they’re yelling out here, it’s been giving me goosebumps,” she said. “I’ve never been loud, but seeing all these people is giving me motivation and hope for a better future."